DATE: March 23rd, 2007


HELLO DERE!
STARRING
MARTY ALLEN AND KARON KATE
Beginning April 14th at The Gold Coast Showroom

Comedian Marty Allen and singer, songwriter and straight woman Karon Kate are still one of the best comedy/straight routines in the entertainment industry. When you see the show, you will see that he is the Marty Allen of 40 years ago. After performing on cruise ships to and from Alaska, the Caribbean and the Mediterranean, Marty and Karon are anxious to settle back in Las Vegas.

One of the reasons for the success of their show is its spontaneity. “Karon has no idea each show what I’m going to say or do. Even the parts that I write, I try to keep fresh. I constantly add new lines so the routines aren’t the same,” says Marty.

Marty is the highly recognizable comic half of the former Allen & Rossi comedy team that followed Martin & Lewis into the comedy spotlight in the 60’s. Marty is the one who looks like he is having a chronic bad hair day. Marty quips that he is the illegitimate love child of Don King and Phyllis Diller.

Marty is one of the most versatile performers in show business. He has worked solo as a comedy headliner in nightclubs and as a dramatic actor in TV roles. Marty’s "Hello Dere" greeting is known and imitated by fans throughout the world.

Forty-three years ago, on a particular Sunday evening in 1964, Marty Allen and Steve Rossi (Allen & Rossi) were preparing to share the Ed Sullivan Show stage with the Beatles who were making their U.S. debut. “It was total pandemonium, pure electricity. “Every time Ed Sullivan tried to introduce the British boy band on that famous Sunday night the girls went bananas” recalled Marty.

At this time, Allen and Rossi were one of the hottest comedy teams of their era. They were making their 12th appearance on the Sullivan Sunday night TV show, then the entertainment world’s greatest launching pads.

Prior to the Beatles making their U.S. debut, the big-haired Marty Allen cracked up John Lennon backstage with, “A lot of people mistake me for you,” went with his trademark opener, Hello Dere,” and added, “I’m Ringo’s mother.”

Marty was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. After graduating from High School during World War 11, he immediately joined the Air Force. He was stationed in Italy where he attained the rank of Sergeant and earned a Soldier's Medal Of Valor. Marty was on guard duty while a plane was being refueled. Suddenly, sparks set off a fire in the plane. Marty saw the potential for disaster and jumped into the cab of the fuel truck and drove it away, preventing an explosion. He then raced back to the plane, crawled into the bomb bay and rolled on the flames to extinguish the fire.

After the war, Marty attended the University of Southern California where he studied journalism. "I like to write, and I wanted to be a reporter so I could wear a trench coat," he explained. To supplement his GI bill allotment he became the first door-to-door dance salesman.

“I got the idea that women would love to learn to dance or just dance for the fun of it during their work day. So for $10 a half-hour, I’d arrive at their door with a record player and records and we’d dance,” he said. “I finally had to give it up. I was visiting 15 clients a day! It was costing me a fortune in new shoes and foot powder.”

During the 1950s, Marty worked in many of the top nightclubs in the country as opening act for established stars such as Sarah Vaughan, Eydie Gorme and many others, including the legendary Nat "King" Cole. It was during this time that he became part of the great comedy team of Allen & Rossi.

Eventually, Marty decided to try his hand at some dramatic roles. His debut as a serious actor came on The Big Valley TV series. He also appeared in several other dramatic productions, including the TV movie Mister Jericho, and The Ballad of Billie Blue and a Rod Serling Night Gallery segment.

In 1968 he made a Hello Dere tour of military hospitals in the United States, paying for his own transportation and hotel costs. As commendation for his good deeds he was placed in the Congressional Record. He repeated the tour yearly through 1972. On each tour, he spent long hours talking and entertaining the wounded soldiers who had just returned from Vietnam.

Throughout the 1970s and into the'80s, Marty made hundreds of TV appearances. "I went up and down the dial. I did all the talk shows and even became a regular on Hollywood Squares. He also appeared on The Circus Of The Stars and Password. They used to call me 'the darling of daytime television.’ It was during this time he met Karon Kate Blackwell. The two began performing together, combining "Katie's" music and Marty's comedy.

Karon Kate Blackwell was born and raised near Ellisville, Mississippi, and as might be expected, can sing a country song as well as, if not better than, any other Daughter of The South. It would be a mistake, however to think there are any regional boundaries to this lady's vast musical talent. As a vocalist, she can glide effortlessly from country to rhythm and blues and gospel to a ballad by Irving Berlin of the Gershwins.

As a musician, Karon Kate can pound out a rock ‘n’ roll song on the piano Jerry Lee Lewis-style or take an old fashioned ragtime tune and really make it swing. Many of the songs she sings are her own compositions. They also run the gamut from country to traditional to contemporary.

When Karon Kate is on stage, there is never a dull moment. As a New Orleans music critic said after attending one of her concerts, “If all of the energy that Karon Kate Blackwell pours into her performance could be harnessed, the lights of Las Vegas and Atlantic City could run on that energy for a million years.”

One of Karon’s most popular songs is Wedding Wows. It became so popular, she recorded an album and included the song. Her first album, titled simply Karon Kate Blackwell, included Wedding Wows and several familiar songs such as ode To Billie Joe and God Bless The U.S.A.

One single, I Can’t Laugh was a Cashbox ‘pick of the week’ selection in August 1994.

Both Marty and Karon say that when they are on stage, they don’t think about the fact that they are married. Rather, they just focus on each other’s talents. There’s a natural dynamic and chemistry whey they perform. Just what keeps Marty going at 85 years old? Duracell batteries, says Karon.

The Gold Coast Showroom, a 500 seat venue offers a variety of seating. Tickets are priced at $29.95 plus tax. For further information or to order tickets, please call 702-367-7075.