Kansas City: An evening of classic Lily Tomlin

(Kansas City) One of America’s foremost comediennes, Lily Tomlin, will perform on Saturday, June 13 at 7:30pm in Muriel Kauffman Theatre in Kansas City, MO. The seven-time Emmy and Tony Award-winning American comedic legend will showcase over a dozen of her timeless characters from Ernestine to Edith Ann.

Lily Tomlin continues to venture across an ever-widening range of media, starring in television, theater, motion pictures, animation and video. Tomlin made her television debut in 1966 on The Garry Moore Show and then made several memorable appearances on The Merv Griffin Show. In December 1969, Tomlin joined the cast of the top-rated Laugh-In and immediately rose to national prominence with her characterizations of Ernestine, the irascible telephone operator, and Edith Ann, the devilish six-year-old.

Other Tomlin characters include Mrs. Judith Beasley, a housewife and mother who is often chosen for television commercials; The Tastful Lady, a somewhat prudish and prissy, conservatively dressed middle-aged apolitical woman who dispenses advice on gracious living; Susie the Sorority Girl, a blonde collegiate who could be the Tasteful Lady’s daughter; The Consumer Advocate Lady, a dour, austere woman who rigidly inspects and tests products for their alleged value; Lucille the Rubber Freak, a woman addicted to eating rubber; and Tess/Trudy, a homeless bag lady.

Throughout her extraordinary career, Tomlin has received numerous awards, including: seven Emmys; a Tony for her one-woman Broadway show, Appearing Nitely; a second Tony for Best Actress, a Drama Desk Award and an Outer Critics’ Circle Award for her one-woman performance in Jane Wagner’s The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe.

Also, a CableAce Award for Executive Producing the film adaptation of The Search; a Grammy for her comedy album, This is a Recording as well as nominations for her subsequent albums Modern Scream, And That’s the Truth and On Stage; and two Peabody Awards–the first for the ABC television special, Edith Ann’s Christmas: Just Say Noël, and the second for narrating and executive producing the HBO film, The Celluloid Closet. In 2003, she received the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor and, in December 2014, was the recipient of the prestigious Kennedy Center Honors in Washington DC.

If you have never seen Lily Tomlin in a stage performance, you must not miss this show. Prepare to laugh so hard your sides hurt.

Tickets range from $49 to $79 for the single performance on Saturday June 13, and can be purchased online at www.Kauffmancenter.org, or at the box office, 1601 Broadway Blvd, Kansas City, MO, M-F, 10am-6pm.

The Gayly – June 11, 2015 @ 7:30am.