ROMANTIC COMEDY PLAY CAST - SHOW BILL SIGNED CO-SIGNED BY: KAREN VALENTINE, KEITH BAXTER, BENAY VENUTA, JILL LARSON - HFSID 313807

ROMANTIC COMEDY PLAY CAST
Benay Venuta, Karen Valentine, Keith Baxter, and Jill Larson sign their names in blue ink
Show bill signed: "Keith Baxter", "Jill Larson", "Benay/Venuta", "Karen Valentine", in blue ink, 73 pages, 5½x9. A program for a production of Romantic Comedy at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre in New York. Singer, dancer, actress BENAY VENUTA (1911-1995) made her first film appearance in Trail of '98 (1928). Her Broadway debut came when she replaced Ethel Merman as Reno Sweeney in Cole Porter's Anything Goes (1935). Venuta and Merman became friends, and appeared together in a revival of Annie Get Your Gun (1966). She was slated to star as Earle Stanley Gardner's detective Bertha Cool on a television series, but only the 1958 pilot was ever made. Venuta played Jean Smart's mother, Ellen Stillfield, on Designing Women (1986-1991). KAREN VALENTINE (b. 1947) debuted on TV as a singer on The Ed Sullivan Show (1964). She earned an Emmy portraying a student teacher on Room 222 (1969-1974). On film she has usually been cast in wholesome roles, often Disney movies like The North Avenue Irregulars (1979). This play was her only Broadway appearance. British actor KEITH BAXTER (b. 1933) appeared in both feature films (The Barretts of Wimpole Street, 1957) and made-for-TV movies, including Merlin (1998). He made his Broadway debut as King Henry VIII in A Man For All Seasons in 1961. JILL LARSON (b. 1947) appeared in one more Broadway play (Death and the King's Horseman, 1987), but has been seen frequently on TV, including recent performances on Desperate Housewives and CSI. She has had recurring roles on three soaps: Santa Barbara, One Life to Live and All My Children. Corners slightly worn. Lightly toned. Fine condition.