SilverBelles enjoy a night at the Gaslight Theater.
Vivian Herman and Ann Kurtz
Several SilverBelles attended the show Growing Up Kelly at the Gaslight Theatre on March 6. Our former choreographer Colleen Kelly Beaman performed in this special tribute to her father, the fabulous hoofer, choreographer, actor and music composer, Fred Kelly. Fred was the younger brother of the more well-known Gene Kelly. Not well known, however, is that Tony award-winning Fred taught Gene how to tap, was the “inventor” of the cha cha and taught dance to many notables, including John Travolta.
Colleen served as choreographer for the SilverBelles for several years and created several dances that remain in our repertoire. Among them are All That Jazz and most notably, Singin’ In the Rain.
SilverBelles were honored to meet Michael Kelly at one of our performances last fall. He has recently moved to Oro Valley after retiring from a long career as producer and director for many well-known film and television shows. Telling the story of the lives and careers of Fred and Gene Kelly through a musical stage production was an important project for Michael and it was met with great reviews by the enthusiastic audience.
It was a delight to reconnect with Colleen, her brother Michael and his wife Diane.