FOLLOWING A successful run at the Edinburgh Festival and in London, A Sentimental Journey, – The Story Of Doris Day, opens at the El Portal Theatre Mainstage in North Hollywood on November 2nd.
The play, which comes direct with its cast from the Mill at Sonning – an award-winning small theatre in the heart of the Oxfordshire countryside, and stars British actress Sally Hughes as Doris Day. The musical is written by Adam Rolston and directed by two-time Emmy award winner Alvin Rakoff.
Part stage drama, part musical extravaganza and performed by an energetic ensemble of just five, A Sentimental Journey embodies Day, her four husbands, her mother, her son, and the many Hollywood notables who entered her life. The show is packed with such familiar songs such as The Deadwood Stage, Day By Day, Que Sera, Sera and Young at Heart and many more film favorites. An onstage band accompanies the cast.
Doris Day was one of the most prolific actresses of the 1950’s and 1960’s. A vivacious blonde with a wholesome image, able to sing, dance, play comedy and dramatic roles, shebecame one of the biggest box-office stars in the world… But behind the screen, there was a story that rivaled any script Hollywood could ever dream up, including love and hate, joy and sadness, financial problems, laughter and tears.
The singer left show business to found the Doris Day Animal League in 1978. She spoke to Presidents Reagan, (a former co-star and dancing partner), Clinton (persuading him to have his dog neutered), and Bush (to whom she offered ‘advice’ on animal welfare laws when he rang to congratulate her on being awarded The Presidential Medal of Freedom) – and has improved conditions for animals throughout the US and beyond. A facility to help abused and neglected horses opened in 2011 and bears her name: the Doris Day Horse Rescue and Adoption Center in Murchison, Texas, on the grounds of an animal sanctuary started by her late friend Cleveland Armory.
The UK critics loved this show; with Martin Gray in the Scotsman enthusing: “Sally Hughes is Doris Day incarnate. Her vocal impersonation is spot-on, and she looks and moves like Day,” while BBC Radio’s Steve Wright gushed: “She had the voice, the looks, the songs and the film roles, but behind the glamorous Hollywood image her love-life was an utter mess and Sally Hughes achieves the almost impossible task of revealing the woman with a bad choice in men while singing all those great Day classics as if she is permanently ‘Young at Heart’.”
Previews for the production start on November 2, 3, & 4 at 8pm and opening night is Saturday November 5 at 8pm. Tickets range from $35 to $50. For Tickets call: 818-508-4200 866-811-4111. Or order online: www.elportaltheatre.com
[adrotate group=”8″]
