Actress/Dancer/Singer Paula Kelly is known to many as
an artist with highly skilled diversity. Receiving
commendations and praise for her broad range of
achievements on stage, film, and television, it has been
difficult to label or pigeonhole her. Enigmatic,
perhaps. Beyond category, for sure!
Ms. Kelly was born in Jacksonville, Florida, and from
six months old was raised in N.Y.C.'s Harlem. A music
student at Music and Art H.S., she continued her
studies at the Julliard School of Music majoring in
dance under Martha Graham. Graduating with an M.S.
Degree, she performed as a soloist with major modern
dance companies such as Martha Graham, Donald
MacKayle, and Alvin Ailey. On the outside 'scene,' she
performed as guest artist and sometimes Assistant
Choreographer for numerous Television Musical
Specials. Included among those were: "The Strollin'
20's" produced by Sydney Poitier, with Harry belafonte,
Duke Ellington, Sammy Davis Jr.,...; "Sammy and
Friends"; BBC production of "Peter Pan" as 'Tiger-Lily',
and co-choreographer to Michael Kidd; Quincy Jones'
"We Love You Madly" with Duke Ellington; "The
Richard Pryor Show" (Emmy nomination); Gene Kelly's
"New York, New York" in a duet performance; she was
the featured dancer in the Opening of Ceasar's Palace;
the Academy Awards Show soloist for nominated song,
"Chitty Chitty Bang Bang," Gower Champion directed.
Bob Fosse spotted her for "Sweet Charity" where she
continued her association with the still infant Ceasar's
Palace. In the co-starring role of 'Helen,' she and the
late Juliet Prowse were the only two Americans aksed
to Premiere the show in London for which she won the
London Variety Award for Best Supporting Actress.
Fosse summoned her for the film version opposite
Shirley MacLaine. She was cast as the featured
performer in the record breaking West Coast Premiere
of "Don't Bother Me, I Can't Cope" at the Mark Taper
Forum and awarded the Los Angeles Drama Critics
Circle Award, Variety, and the first of three NAACP
Image Awards. She moved into 'straight' acting roles
in films: "The Andromeda Strain" dir. Robert Wise,
"Soylent Green" dir. Richard Fleisher, "Uptown
Saturday Night" dir. Richard Pryor, and the 80 year
matriarch 'Ma Pearl' in "Once Upon a Time When We
Were Colored."
T.V. Audiences saw her in "Night Court," nominated for
an Emmy, "The Women of Brewster Place" in another
Emmy nominated performance, numerous episodic and
sitcom guest appearances and mini-series. The LATC
premiere of "Stevie Wants to Play the Blues" garnered
her the ACE, Dramalogue, Variety, and LA Weekly
awards for her portrayal of the singer 'Ruth' opposite
Amy Madigan with Simon Callow directing.
Co-starring opposite Gregory Hines in the West Coast
premiere of Duke Ellington's "Sophisticated Ladies,"
Paula returned to the Musical Stage. From the Shubert
Theatre to starring in the production at the Desert Inn
in Las Vegas, she began to see her hidden desire to do
her own show as a reality. In her words: "The music
has always been the thread, the catalyst for everything
I've ever done. It didn't make sense to ignore the
biggest ally, the 97% of me, the Music." And so, this
multi-faceted performer offers yet another facet of
herself.
As she wrote and developed her show, her insatiable
love of all kinds of music emerged to reveal a unique
style of Paula Kelly; actress/dancer/singer. Her songs
range from Jazz roots to internationally evocative
storytelling. Her evenings are fun, hip and thought
provoking. Sensual and wild. Sometimes movement
and song are spontaneously intermingled, surprising
even Her! From "Take the A-Train" to "La Vie En
Rose," from Scat to Portuguese, from vocalise to "My
Foolish Heart," it is all Paula Kelly. What is that? It is
definitely "beyond category!"
Here are some of the quotes of her
performances:
At the Cinegrill in the Roosevelt Hotel, Holywood CA:
"...an incandescent woman...don't come expecting the usual.
Paula Kelly the dancer, Paula Kelly the actress, could enjoy a
triumphant career simply as Paula Kelly the singer." - L.A.
Times
"...slender, tender, and tall, moving with a dancer's grace, she
is the ultimate Sophisticated Lady. A performer so gifted and
versatile, that her show is the most exciting of its kind this
town has seen in a long time." - Daily Variety
"Paula Kelly's unique interpretations give illuminating insights
to the most familiar standards, the unfamiilar are discoveries.
Her performance as a singer has scintillating depth and range.
A Marco Polo of music." - George Christy, Hollywood Reporter
"Thank God she has been held over. Don't miss it! This act
can enjoy a worldwide audience. An exuberant audience as
diverse as she is, loved her madly! Sexy, mysterious, classy,
magnetic, fun and...All that jazz!!!" - L.A. TImes
At the Gardenia Restaurant and Lounge in West Hollywood:
"...she is wonderful. Smoldering, explosive, and exotic...this is
one lady who can do it all!"
- Dramalogue.
"...with the clang and the clash all around us, Paula Kelly is an
Oasis for the hip, the musical, the young and the not so young.
A mixture of musicianship, movement. A velvet voice is a zone
all her own."
- Jazz Scene
At The Jazz Bakery in Los Angeles (Valentine's Day Tribute to
Nellie Lutcher):
"How about splendiferous?"
"My HIP Funny Valetine" - Jazz Sence
"Delicious and moving...spontaneous and truthtful, free and
natural...abandoned and corked vapors..." - L.A. Times
At The Thousand Oaks Performing Arts Plaza:
"...swaying, strutting, her body telling the story of the words
she signing, the facile, graceful dancer gave a standout
performance standing still at the mike singing jazz in a voice
with an impressive range and tonality. If she did just that, she
would be categorized as one of the best jazz singers on the
scene today. Paula Kelly is, however, beyond that category
alone, because she is a dance! - Jazz Scene
For her debut at the Gardenia, Leonard Feather of the L.A.
Time said:
"Paula Kelly is spectacular...visually, aurally, and any which
way you choose. This willowy, striking woman has all the
requirements for a perfect vocal performance. An arresting
artist, what kind of singer is Kelly? As Duke Ellington would
have said. "She is beyond category."