Orpheum Theatre (Los Angeles, CA)
Don't miss this rare Los Angeles appearance by legendary comedian Joan Rivers. For over 40 years, Rivers has been one of the funniest people in the business, appearing on every program from Ed Sullivan to The Tonight Show to Howard Stern. These performances are being taped for her exciting new television special, Live at the Orpheum, to air on Bravo.
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The last event was Wednesday May 24, 2006 / 8:00pm. (view all dates)
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When planning began in 1923 for the Orpheum Theatre as the fourth and final house operated by the Orpheum vaudeville circuit in Los Angeles, who could have foretold the memories this magnificent venue would harbor over the years.
Since its February 15, 1926 opening, the Orpheum has played host to some of the most venerable names in show business - from burlesque queen Sally Rand, ... More
A diminutive, blonde comedienne and writer, Joan Rivers was a trailblazer for female performers, winning laughs and creating controversy along the way. After working in publicity for a New York department store in the 1950s, Rivers had a short-lived marriage to the heir to a clothing store fortune. When the marriage fell apart months later, she left her parents' Larchmont, New York, home in a convertible, wearing Bermuda shorts, intending to be a serious actress. Instead, after studying drama, appearing in a few off-Broadway plays (including one with an equally novice Barbra Streisand), Rivers was told by an agent she should be doing comedy. Working with an act she would later say was stolen from TV variety shows, Rivers billed herself as "Pepper January, Comedy with Spice," and played seedy clubs and strip joints. This eventually led to nine months working with the Second City improvisational troupe in Chicago. She returned to New York and played such clubs as Max's Kansas City and The Bitter End in Greenwich Village, where the only other female comic around was Lily Tomlin. Much of Rivers' early act had an edge not unlike Lenny Bruce's--a socio-political emphasis. She also wrote for the TV show "Candid Camera," and for other women such as Zsa Zsa Gabor and Phyllis Diller.
In 1965, Rivers finally made it to "The Tonight Show", where the host, Johnny Carson, proclaimed to America with Joan at his side that she would be a star. That same year, she married Edgar Rosenberg, a Brit who would guide her career, and worked with her to refine her act for a wider audience. The emphasis became somewhat self-deprecating, the fat child turned flat-chested woman who couldn't cook and loved to shop. Her lampoon of the post-War housewife struck a chord, and she was soon a Las Vegas headliner. Instead of starring in her own variety show, Rivers guested on those of others' into the 70s, while continuing to headline in Las Vegas and around the country.
Rivers had also established herself as a satirical writer, with a nationally syndicated newspaper column distributed by the Chicago Tribune, a record album, and a Broadway play, "Fun City" (1972), in which she also starred. As the decade progressed, books followed as well as the unsuccessful feature film (which she also directed), "Rabbit Test" (1977), (1977), that starred Billy Crystal as a man who gives birth. She also co-created a TV series, "Husbands, Wives and Lovers" (CBS, 1978), an unsuccessful hour-long sitcom following the lives of five couples. Throughout it all, Rivers kept in the public eye particularly as a frequent guest of Johnny Carson on his "Tonight Show". By the early 80s, she was often the substitute host for him. In 1983, NBC gave her a contract and, with much hoopla, declared Rivers the permanent co-host for Carson.It was also at this time that Rivers' act had moved away from self-deprecation and her inability to cook and more towards lampooning public figures. Her quips about Elizabeth Taylor's weight gains and Queen Elizabeth became part of the greater public culture, and Rivers, always a snappy dresser, turned herself into a fashion plate and an advocate of plastic surgery.
In 1989, Tribune launched her in a syndicated daytime talk show in which she put much emphasis on gossip and was the first to bring columnists on TV on a regular basis. The show's ratings were strong and in 1990, Rivers won the Daytime Emmy Award as Best Talk Show Host, the most emotional moment of the awards ceremony. Simultaneously, Rivers launched a USA Network weekly half-hour, "Gossip! Gossip! Gossip!" in 1992. She also began selling a line of jewelry she designed on the QVC home shopping network.
Rivers continued to perform in concert, although with less frequency, and, again with her daughter Melissa, began to host pre-award show programs for the E! Entertainment network in 1995.
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