Jump to content

Albuquerque Museum launches new Viv exhibition


Brock

Recommended Posts

The Albuquerque Museum will launch a new exhibit on Vivian Vance, starting next Saturday through January 2015 entitled: Everybody's Neighbour: Vivian Vance.

 

Here's a description from the Museum:

 

 


Vivian Vance and her family moved to Albuquerque, introducing her to the Albuquerque Little Theater, which provided her the money she needed to study under Eva Le Gallienne in New York. She was discovered by Desi Arnaz at the La Jolla Playhouse, where who decided she was perfect for the role of Ethel Mertz in the "I Love Lucy" television series. This exhibition will celebrate the life and times of one of Albuquerque’s most famous residents, through family memorabilia and the Museum’s photographs.

 

MUSEUM: http://albuquerquemuseum.org/art-history/upcoming-exhibitions?/exhibition/30

 

The show is also covered in today's Albuquerque Journal, along with a new interview with Viv's sister, Lou Ann Graham:

 

 


Vivian Vance blazed her fire in the sky as a frumpy housewife and made her hometown proud.

The Albuquerque Museum will honor the “I Love Lucy” star with “Everybody’s Neighbor: Vivian Vance” beginning Saturday, March 29.

The exhibition showcases the history and pop culture that sprang from this onetime Albuquerque resident, including photographs, clothing and memorabilia from her most famous role.

Known as “Viv” to her friends and family, Vance was born Vivian Roberta Jones in Cherryvale, Kan. Her passion for the stage struck defiantly when she was a teenager, against the wishes of her religious mother. The family moved to Albuquerque in 1929 because of her mother’s asthma

Mae Jones thought acting was risque.

“My mother objected to a lot of things,” said Vance’s youngest sister Lou Ann Graham, an Albuquerque acting teacher and actor. “We were raised in the Methodist Church. Later she became a Jehovah’s Witness. My mother thought (acting) was sinful.”

 

FULL ARTICLE: http://www.abqjournal.com/373077/entertainment/abq-museum-has-vivian-vance-exhibit.html

Link to comment
Share on other sites

More on the upcoming exhibition, including tomorrow's opening reception, in this great piece from alibi.com: Loving Vivian Vance: The Highs and Lows of an Albuquerque Legend (disregard the Dinah! contract creeping into the mythology again):

 

 


Most people recall Vivian Vance as Lucille Ball’s hilarious partner-in-crime Ethel Mertz on “I Love Lucy.” When Lucy got in trouble, Ethel was right there with her. Their antics are some of the most famous, and funniest, scenes in TV history.

But there's more to the real Vivian Vance. The Vance who didn’t always gel with her famous costars. Whose personal life wasn’t always picture-perfect. Who at one point succumbed to the stress of stardom and had a nervous breakdown.

An exhibit debuting this weekend at the Albuquerque Museum (2000 Mountain NW) opens a window on the life of Burque's most famous TV actress. Everybody’s Neighbor: Vivian Vance runs March 29 through Jan. 31, 2015. It features family photos, news clippings and wardrobe pieces, including a beautiful green rhinestone hair comb Vance sported during her vaudeville days. Visitors will also see Vance’s Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Television Series—Vance was the first-ever recipient of that award in 1954.

Though Vance spent her earliest years in Oklahoma, her family later moved to Albuquerque's South Valley. She joined them here in her late teen years and fell in love with the Duke City.

And the Duke City fell in love with her.

Vance performed in the very first show at Albuquerque Little Theatre (ALT) in 1930. Immediately sensing her star potential, the community in 1932 conducted some old-school crowdsourcing: After her performance in The Trial of Mary Dugan, they gave Vance the ticket money so she could travel to New York and try to “make it big.”

 

MORE, INCLUDING PICTURES: http://alibi.com/art/46548/Loving-Vivian-Vance.html

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 months later...

Thanks so MUCH for sharing that with us; I listened to every second; was astonished that Lu Ann was so eloquent and lovely in the memory of her beloved sister.  Unscripted and non-stop; not even one:  'you know what I'm saying?' How refreshing compared to today's interviewees in various forums..  THANKS AGAIN...respectfully submitted, .jk

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...