*“She ages backward. It’s a transformative piece,” said actress Morgana Shaw (Hitman on Netflix) about “All About Bette: An Interlude with Bette Davis” which she stars in as two-time Academy Award-winning Bette Davis, premiering February 11, 2025 at The Palms Springs Cultural Center (7 pm). “When I picked up the script….I loved it. Takes in humanity. It’s not about her beauty…it’s the rawness…I think Bette knew how to tap into that.”
The one-woman show, starring Shaw started in 2006! The February 11th show is produced by Shane Peterman (Pure Country). The script is written by Camilla Carr (soap opera “Another World”). Emmy-nominated Robert Wagner (“It Takes a Thief”), who just turned 95, has a special narrative in the play.
“It’s the funny Bette, the heartbroken Bette, her marriages and divorces,” Morgana said seriously. “Camilla Carr did her homework!”
A SAG-AFTRA member, Morgana started her career as a dancer in Dallas, Texas. Her break-out role as an actress was in 1996 in “A Promise to Carolyn.”
Bette Davis is also a 10x Academy nominated actress known for her roles in All About Eve, Whatever Happen to Baby Jane?, Death on the Nile, and Voyager.
She received a Kennedy Honor, the first woman to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Film Institute, and an Emmy Award.
“She took the roles that had fire or grit,” Morgana pointed out to me as we discussed Bette Davis’s body of work. That was not normal in Hollywood, especially at that time.”
Morgana added: “I can relate to how she felt about her looks – it’s not what Hollywood said was beautiful…and it’s still Hollywood. They set a standard of what beautiful looks like.”
Morgana Shaw’s credits also include Salem (2014), Friday Night Lights (2006), Mad Money (2008)
“She’s (All About Bette: An Interlude with Bette Davis) been on a journey…feels like a resurrection. It’s a new production…to be with people who appreciate her,” she added sincerely. “It will feel like you are in the room with Bette. I feel as if I am Bette…I completely become her. There’s a connection with people who know her body of work. I react to the audience.”
I told Morgana while waiting for our interview I was looking at the “She’s Got Bette Davis Eyes” music video of the hit song by Kim Carnes, written by Donna Weiss (lyrics) and Jackie DeShannon (melody) in 1974.
She laughed a little and said, “I was told I have Bette Davis eyes. I didn’t know who she was, I didn’t know she would be my body of work.” www.AllAboutBette.us
SYNDICATED COLUMN: Dr. Eunice Moseley has an estimated weekly readership of over one million with The Pulse of Entertainment. She is also a Business Management/Public Relations Strategist and Consultant at Freelance Associates and is Promotions Director (at-large) for The Baltimore Times. www.ThePulseofEntertainment.com. EVENTS: “Uplifting Minds II” Entertainment Conference (ULMII), founded by Eunice in 1999, is in its 26th year. Next events are coming to Baltimore via Zoom Saturday, April 19, 2025, presented by Security Square Mall and The Baltimore Times, and Los Angeles via Zoom on Saturday, November 8, 2025. The ULMII event is a free entertainment conference offering a Professional Panel Q&A Session, a Professional Talent Showcase and National Talent Competition (vocal, songwriting, dance and acting) where aspiring artists have a chance to receive over $20,000 valued in prizes/product/services. Log onto www.UpliftingMinds2.com RSVP for Zoom Access at EventBrite.com or email [email protected].
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