MAUREEN McGOVERN's career spans nearly 40 years including recordings, concerts, theater, film, television, radio and songwriting, all with a voice that defies categorization.Her current PS Classics CD, "A Long and Winding Road" has been praised by The New York Times as "...a captivating musical scrapbook from the 1960s to the early 70s. Ms. McGovern's vocal technique is second to none" and was voted by Playbill.com and TalkinBroadway.com among the "Best of 2008 Performances" and "Top 10 Vocal Recordings of 2008."
In 2005, Ms. McGovern returned to the Broadway stage, originating her Drama Desk nominated role of 'Marmee' in Little Women, The Musical and reprised her role in the 32 city 1st National Tour of Little Women, The Musical. Maureen made her Broadway debut as 'Mabel' in the Pirates of Penzance, starred as 'Luisa Contini' with the late Raul Julia in Nine and as 'Polly Peachum' in 3 Penny Opera with Sting. Off Broadway, Maureen originated the role of 'Mary' in Brownstone. Critics and audiences alike were delighted with her definitive portrayal of 'Mrs. Anna' in the 1998 National Tour of The King and I.
Most recently, Maureen performed in the East Coast Premiere of her one-woman show, A Long and Winding Road at Arena Stage in DC and the Huntington Theatre in Boston. Regionally, she has performed in the West Coast premiere of William Finn's Elegies at the Canon Theatre. Maureen starred as 'Countess Aurelia' in the historic revival of Jerry Herman's musical Dear World (an adaptation of The Madwoman of Chaillot) and as 'Madame Emery' in The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, both at the Sundance Institute Theatre. In 2001, she made her dramatic debut as 'Eleanor of Aquitaine' in The Lion In Winter and originated the role of 'Eleanor Bridges' in the world premiere of Letters from 'Nam in Boston. She starred as "Mary Turner' in Of Thee I Sing for the Reprise Series at UCLA's Freud Playhouse and also at the Kennedy Center and Brooklyn Academy of Music in tandem with Let 'Em Eat Cake. Most recently, she reprised her role of 'Eleanor Bridges' in One Red Flower (formerly Letters from 'Nam) in a moving Los Angeles benefit performance for New Directions, an organization whose mission is to empower veterans and facilitate their successful returns to families and society.
She has also starred regionally in The Sound of Music, South Pacific, Guys and Dolls (playing both 'Sarah' and 'Adelaide') and I Do, I Do. Maureen's children's musical, The Bengal Tiger's Ball, had its Central Florida premiere in 1999, co-sponsored by Disney. She wrote the captivating music, co-created and starred in the production.
Feature films include Maureen's roles as the 'Nightclub Singer' in The Towering Inferno and 'Sr. Angelina,' the guitar strumming nun in the comedy classic Airplane! and Airplane II: The Sequel, which was a fitting and hilarious finale to her early "Disaster Theme Queen" decade. Ms. McGovern can also be heard as the voice of 'Rachel' in the DreamWorks animated video/DVD Joseph: King of Dreams with Ben Affleck. Her television roles include One Life To Live, The Tracey Ullman Show, Pacific Blue, Duckman and Beyond Belief, and on radio, she spent three seasons as a frequent special guest on Garrison Keillor's "American Radio Company of the Air."
Grammy nominated for "Best New Artist" (1973) and "Best Traditional Pop Vocal Performance" (1998), she received a Grammy Award for "Best Musical Recording for Children" (2005) for her participation in the CD/DVD Songs from the Neighborhood: The Music of Mister Rogers. She also won the coveted Tokyo Music Festival Grand Prize Award (1975) for her performance of Paul Williams' "Even Better Than I Know Myself."
Maureen's recording career began with the Oscar winning International Gold Records "The Morning After" (Billboard #1) and "We May Never Love Like This Again" from the classic disaster films, The Poseidon Adventure and The Towering Inferno. She also introduced the Oscar nominated song "Wherever Love Takes Me" in the film, Gold and hit recordings "Can You Read My Mind?" from the motion picture, Superman and "Different Worlds" (Billboard Top 20 hit and #1 AC hit) from the ABC TV series, Angie. Other critically acclaimed recordings include songwriter tributes to George Gershwin, Harold Arlen, Richard Rodgers, Marilyn and Alan Bergman and her solo piano/voice albums, "Another Woman In Love" and "The Pleasure of His Company" with jazz pianist, Mike Renzi.
Maureen has recently been honored by Irish Magazine as one of the Top 100 Irish Americans, received the "Songs From The Heart Award" from NARAS and the American Music Therapy Association, the "CUNY (City University of New York) Lifetime Achievement Award" for making a remarkable difference in the lives of individuals and students with disabilities, the "AFTRA AMEE Lifetime Sound Recording Award," the "Nightlife Legend Award" (NYC), the "MAC Lifetime Achievement Award," the "Imagination Award" from Imagination Stage for her work with children, the arts and philanthropy, the "Festival of Children's Foundation's Founder's Award" for her dedication to broadening and enriching the lives of children and has received a Doctorate of Music (Hon) from Youngstown State University.
McGovern founded "The Works of Heart" Foundation for Music and Healing to address the inspirational and emotional needs of patients and caregivers.
She serves on the National Board of the Muscular Dystrophy Association and is Chairperson of the annual Shamrocks Against Dystrophy Campaign. For 30 consecutive years, Maureen has performed on the Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon, including serving as co-host in New York City for six years. Maureen supports music therapy and has been an Artist Spokesperson for the American Music Therapy Association since 2001.
For the most current information, please go to:
MM PRODUCTIONS, INC.
8530 Wilshire Blvd., Ste. #200, Beverly Hills, CA 90211Jennifer Howe, Company/Tour Manager
C: (763) 439-4340
E: howemminc@aol.comFall 2009
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