Doris Roberts Courtesy of ITM Photos
Doris Roberts opened the 2013 SmartTalk season to a full house at the State Theatre in New Brunswick. The mostly female crowd were gathered in groups in the lobby awaiting the doors to open. Roberts was introduced by Magic 98.3 personality Debbie Mazella who was the moderator. The crowd exploded when she hit the stage, and laughed the entire evening.
She shared photos from her personal life, childhood stories, the times leading up to her big break on Broadway, her two marriages, her only child and grandchildren, plus her Hollywood career. Doris was born in St. Louis. She showed a picture of herself as a baby in her birthday suit with the cutest little bottom, then made reference to her bottom today. From that point on, I knew we were in for a comedic treat.
Her father was one of those clichéd men who went out for a pack of cigarettes, and never came back. Her mother decided to move back to the Bronx. Being in New York changed Doris’ life because of the opportunities she discovered on the Great White Way.
Men have the Super Bowl, and we have SmartTalk.
Five-times Emmy winner Doris Roberts has been in a plethora of TV shows and movies including Angie, Remington Steele, Aliens in the Attack, Madea’s Witness Protection, and of course Everybody Loves Raymond. The video clips made us all aware of how extensive her body of work is. Her humor is both witty and fall out laughing hilarious. She kept the audience laughing the entire evening. Her son, Michael Cannata, Jr. joined her for this tour operating the visual presentation.
Debbie Mazella (L) and Doris Roberts Courtesy of ITM Photos
Manzell returned to ask Roberts the audience’s questions. She answered them with humor, while inspiring women, young and old to do what they love.
One woman who loves the series, and told me, “Men have the Super Bowl, and we have SmartTalk”. I had to chuckle at that one, because when you’re at the theatre you can really feel the energy, much like being at a stadium for a game. We’re just charged up with inspiration on how to make our lives better, and quote favorite lines from the evening instead of talking about a Hail Mary 90 yard pass that scored.
It’s a great girls’ night out, that can even be combined with dinner, or pre-show drinks in the lobby, so I hope to see you at the next show. 60 Minutes Correspondence and CBS Evening News Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondence Lara Logan will speak on Tuesday, February 26th. You can still buy tickets for the show. Use promo code Bigpromo for 20% off!
All photos courtesy of ITM Photos in Piscataway.