Lawrence Leritz
Encyclopedia
Lawrence Leritz is an American dancer, singer, actor, producer, fitness expert and choreographer.
, Leritz made his stage debut in the children's chorus of the world stage premiere of Rodgers and Hammerstein
's musical State Fair
at The Muny
, starring Ozzie and Harriet Nelson
, directed by James Hammerstein
, supervised by Richard Rodgers
and choreographed by Tommy Tune
.
Leritz moved to New York City on scholarships to the Harkness Ballet
, Joffrey Ballet
and School of American Ballet
, studying with Alexandra Danilova
and Stanley Williams
. Leritz was invited to work with the dance choreographers George Balanchine
, Jerome Robbins
, Alvin Ailey
, Robert Joffrey
, Ruth Page
, Frederic Franklin, John Neumeier
, Lee Theodore
, Joe Layton
and Sir Frederick Ashton
. Leritz's first major dance companies included The New York City Ballet
, where during a company class, he was discovered by famed Balanchine ballerina Violette Verdy
. Violette invited Lawrence to join The Hamburg Ballet
. While performing in Hamburg, his dancing impressed Dance Magazine's editor-in-chief William Como
, who invited Leritz back to the U.S. to continue to his dancing career and for photo sessions with famed dance photographer Kenn Duncan
for Dance Magazine. Leritz continued his career starring with Ruth Page
's Chicago Ballet
, Israel's Bat-Dor Dance Company
and with the Paris Opéra on its U.S. tour to the Metropolitan Opera
and DC's Kennedy Center. Lawrence appeared as guest artist and choreographer for Plácido Domingo
's Los Angeles Music Center Opera and danced in the Joffrey Ballet
version of Michel Fokine
's "Petrushka" with Rudolf Nureyev
at the New York City Center
. Leritz created his own company, Dance Celebration, which represented the United States at the International Choreographic Competitions in Paris, performing his signature ballet, "Worth A Song," receiving special congratulations from President Jimmy Carter
at The White House
in 1979. Leritz appeared three times on the cover of Dance Pages Magazine. Leritz appeared Off-Broadway in "Funding The Arts" at the Baryshnikov
Arts Center, May 2010, acting and dancing the role of J. Edgar.
In 2006, Leritz was included in Harvard University
's George Balanchine Collection of The New York City Ballet at The Harvard Theatre Collection and The Harvard College Library.
Leritz appeared on Broadway in Jerome Robbins directed revival of Fiddler on the Roof
with Herschel Bernardi
and Maria Karnilova
, Fonteyn & Nureyev on Broadway
, and American Dance Machine
. Leritz returned to co-star at The Muny
with Broadway's Judy Kaye
, John Reardon, John Schuck
, Beth Leavel
and his dance partner, Lorene Yarnell in Cole Porter
's Can-Can
.
Leritz has also acted in many feature films including Julie Taymor
's Across the Universe
, The Adjustment Bureau
opposite Matt Damon
, Dummy
with Adrien Brody
, Easy Money with Rodney Dangerfield
, Legs
with Gwen Verdon
and the HBO feature Stag
with Ben Gazzara
, Kevin Dillon
and Taylor Dayne
. Leritz's television appearances include NBC's Saturday Night Live
" with Nathan Lane
, CBS's Capitol
, ABC's All My Children
, CBS's Cosby
, and in HBO's Sex And The City
; talk shows including The Rosie O'Donnell Show
with Liza Minnelli
, Maury
, CNN's Showbiz Tonight
and Entertainment Tonight
.
Leritz is known in the fitness world as the choreographer to many bodybuilding stars, which included the NBC Sports television special "Arnold Schwarzenegger
's Bodybuilding Arnold Classic
" in 1989. Lawrence hosted and created the DVD "Total Stretch! with Lawrence Leritz" and appears in numerous issues of Joe Weider
's "Muscle & Fitness
" and "Men's Fitness
magazines.
Leritz produces for stage and television, including the annual television event "Day of Compassion
", for which Time
magazine honored Leritz as their 1996 Local Hero. During the 2003–2004 season, Leritz was the producer and choreographer of the Off-Broadway revue, Boobs! The Musical
. "Boobs! The Musical" won New Orleans' 2005 Big Easy and Ambie Awards, Wichita's 2006 Teall Award and was nominated for the 2004 Mac Awards
for Best Musical Revue.
Leritz produced The 50th Anniversary Gala of The American Guild of Musical Artists
, starring Beverly Sills
and Peter Martins
at The New York State Theatre at Lincoln Center in 1986. Lawrence also choreographed the Motown feature film, "The Last Dragon
", the mime duo Shields & Yarnell for Atlantic City and for MTV.
Leritz is the Spectrum Records recording artist of the dance hit single "Crank It Up" produced by Cory Wade
, performing on tour with The Weather Girls, Laura Branigan
, Sylvester, Natalie Cole
and starred at the Las Vegas Stardust Hotel during its final month.
Life and career
Born in Alton, IllinoisAlton, Illinois
Alton is a city on the Mississippi River in Madison County, Illinois, United States, about north of St. Louis, Missouri. The population was 27,865 at the 2010 census. It is a part of the Metro-East region of the Greater St. Louis metropolitan area in Southern Illinois...
, Leritz made his stage debut in the children's chorus of the world stage premiere of Rodgers and Hammerstein
Rodgers and Hammerstein
Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II were a well-known American songwriting duo, usually referred to as Rodgers and Hammerstein. They created a string of popular Broadway musicals in the 1940s and 1950s during what is considered the golden age of the medium...
's musical State Fair
State Fair (musical)
State Fair is a musical with a book by Tom Briggs and Louis Mattioli, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, and music by Richard Rodgers.Rodgers and Hammerstein originally adapted the Phil Stong novel of the same name for a 1945 movie musical, which was remade in 1962...
at The Muny
The Muny
The Muny, short for The Municipal Theatre Association of St. Louis, is an outdoor musical theatre, located in Forest Park, St. Louis, Missouri...
, starring Ozzie and Harriet Nelson
Harriet Nelson
Harriet Nelson was an American singer and actress. Nelson is best known for her role on the long-running sitcom The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet.-Early life and career:...
, directed by James Hammerstein
James Hammerstein
James Hammerstein was an American theatre director and producer. He was the son of Oscar Hammerstein II and his wife Dorothy ....
, supervised by Richard Rodgers
Richard Rodgers
Richard Charles Rodgers was an American composer of music for more than 900 songs and for 43 Broadway musicals. He also composed music for films and television. He is best known for his songwriting partnerships with the lyricists Lorenz Hart and Oscar Hammerstein II...
and choreographed by Tommy Tune
Tommy Tune
Thomas James "Tommy" Tune is an American actor, dancer, singer, theatre director, producer, and choreographer. Over the course of his career, he has won nine Tony Awards and the National Medal of Arts.-Early years:...
.
Leritz moved to New York City on scholarships to the Harkness Ballet
Harkness Ballet
The Harkness Ballet was a major New York ballet company named after its founder Rebekah Harkness. Harkness inherited her husband's fortune in Standard Oil holdings and was a dance lover...
, Joffrey Ballet
Joffrey Ballet
The Joffrey Ballet is a dance company in Chicago, Illinois, founded in 1956. From 1995 to 2004, the company was known as The Joffrey Ballet of Chicago. The company regularly performs classical ballets including Romeo & Juliet and The Nutcracker, while balancing those classics with pioneering modern...
and School of American Ballet
School of American Ballet
The School of American Ballet is one of the most famous classical ballet schools in the world and is the associate school of the New York City Ballet, a leading international ballet company based at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City. The school trains students from the...
, studying with Alexandra Danilova
Alexandra Danilova
Aleksandra Dionisyevna Danilova was a Russian-born prima ballerina who became an American citizen....
and Stanley Williams
Stanley Williams (ballet)
Stanley Williams was a dancer and, later, a renowned ballet instructor.-Early days:Stanley Williams was born in England but grew up in Copenhagen, and Stanley was enrolled at the Royal Danish School of Ballet...
. Leritz was invited to work with the dance choreographers George Balanchine
George Balanchine
George Balanchine , born Giorgi Balanchivadze in Saint Petersburg, Russia, to a Georgian father and a Russian mother, was one of the 20th century's most famous choreographers, a developer of ballet in the United States, co-founder and balletmaster of New York City Ballet...
, Jerome Robbins
Jerome Robbins
Jerome Robbins was an American theater producer, director, and choreographer known primarily for Broadway Theater and Ballet/Dance, but who also occasionally directed films and directed/produced for television. His work has included everything from classical ballet to contemporary musical theater...
, Alvin Ailey
Alvin Ailey
Alvin Ailey, Jr. was an American choreographer and activist who founded the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in New York. Ailey is credited with popularizing modern dance and revolutionizing African-American participation in 20th century concert dance...
, Robert Joffrey
Robert Joffrey
Robert Joffrey was an American dancer, teacher, producer and choreographer, known for his highly imaginative modern ballets...
, Ruth Page
Ruth Page
Ruth Page was an American ballerina and choreographer, considered a pioneer in creating works on American themes. To the classical ballet vocabulary she added movements from sports, popular dance and everyday gestures....
, Frederic Franklin, John Neumeier
John Neumeier
John Neumeier is a well-known American ballet dancer, choreographer, and director. He has been the director and chief choreographer of the Hamburg Ballet since 1973. 5 years later he founded the Hamburg Ballet School, which also includes a boarding school...
, Lee Theodore
Lee Theodore
Lee Theodore was a Broadway director/choreographer and performer. Lee appeared as Anybodys in the original production of "West Side Story" and in "Tenderloin" and "The King And I". As a choreographer, Theodore created dances for "Baker Street," "Darling Of The Day," "Flora, The Red Menance" and...
, Joe Layton
Joe Layton
Joe Layton was an American director and choreographer known primarily for his work on Broadway.-Biography:Born Joseph Lichtman in Brooklyn, New York, Layton began his career as a dancer in Wonderful Town , and he appeared uncredited in the ensemble of the original live TV production of Rodgers and...
and Sir Frederick Ashton
Frederick Ashton
Sir Frederick William Mallandaine Ashton OM, CH, CBE was a leading international dancer and choreographer. He is most noted as the founder choreographer of The Royal Ballet in London, but also worked as a director and choreographer of opera, film and theatre revues.-Early life:Ashton was born at...
. Leritz's first major dance companies included The New York City Ballet
New York City Ballet
New York City Ballet is a ballet company founded in 1948 by choreographer George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein. Leon Barzin was the company's first music director. Balanchine and Jerome Robbins are considered the founding choreographers of the company...
, where during a company class, he was discovered by famed Balanchine ballerina Violette Verdy
Violette Verdy
Violette Verdy is a French ballerina who has worked as a director of dance companies and in other related capacities since her retirement from performing in the late 1970s. Verdy began dance training as a small child and performed with Les Ballets des Champs-Elysées beginning in 1945...
. Violette invited Lawrence to join The Hamburg Ballet
Hamburg Ballet
Hamburg Ballet, also known as the Hamburg State Opera Ballet, is an internationally acclaimed ballet company located in Hamburg, Germany. Since 1973 it is directed by the American dancer and choreographer John Neumeier....
. While performing in Hamburg, his dancing impressed Dance Magazine's editor-in-chief William Como
William Como
William Como , was the Editor-in-Chief of Dance Magazine during the period of 1970-1988, when it is was ‘the publication of record’, crucial for linking many developments in dance into 'a dance world', through culturally burgeoning decades that rank among the most important theater-arts epochs of...
, who invited Leritz back to the U.S. to continue to his dancing career and for photo sessions with famed dance photographer Kenn Duncan
Kenn Duncan
Kenn Duncan was an American dance photographer.-Biography:Kenneth Duncan was born September 22, 1928 in New Jersey. He began his career as a skater and then a dancer. After breaking his foot and taking a six-week course on photography at a YMCA, he became a photographer...
for Dance Magazine. Leritz continued his career starring with Ruth Page
Ruth Page
Ruth Page was an American ballerina and choreographer, considered a pioneer in creating works on American themes. To the classical ballet vocabulary she added movements from sports, popular dance and everyday gestures....
's Chicago Ballet
Chicago Ballet
Chicago Opera Ballet, established in 1910, which marks the beginnings of the first American ballet company. Chicago Grand Opera Company's first ballet master was Luigi Albertieri . The opera became a base from which successful Chicago resident dance companies emerged...
, Israel's Bat-Dor Dance Company
Bat-Dor Dance Company
Bat-Dor was an Israeli dance company based in Tel Aviv, Israel, co-founded by Baroness Batsheva de Rothschild and dancer Jeannette Ordman.-Company:Bat Dor made its debut in 1968 with Ordman as its leading dancer. The company existed until July 2006....
and with the Paris Opéra on its U.S. tour to the Metropolitan Opera
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
and DC's Kennedy Center. Lawrence appeared as guest artist and choreographer for Plácido Domingo
Plácido Domingo
Plácido Domingo KBE , born José Plácido Domingo Embil, is a Spanish tenor and conductor known for his versatile and strong voice, possessing a ringing and dramatic tone throughout its range...
's Los Angeles Music Center Opera and danced in the Joffrey Ballet
Joffrey Ballet
The Joffrey Ballet is a dance company in Chicago, Illinois, founded in 1956. From 1995 to 2004, the company was known as The Joffrey Ballet of Chicago. The company regularly performs classical ballets including Romeo & Juliet and The Nutcracker, while balancing those classics with pioneering modern...
version of Michel Fokine
Michel Fokine
Michel Fokine was a groundbreaking Russian choreographer and dancer.-Biography:...
's "Petrushka" with Rudolf Nureyev
Rudolf Nureyev
Rudolf Khametovich Nureyev was a Russian dancer, considered one of the most celebrated ballet dancers of the 20th century. Nureyev's artistic skills explored expressive areas of the dance, providing a new role to the male ballet dancer who once served only as support to the women.In 1961 he...
at the New York City Center
New York City Center
New York City Center is a 2,750-seat Moorish Revival theater located at 131 West 55th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues in Manhattan, New York City. It is one block south of Carnegie Hall...
. Leritz created his own company, Dance Celebration, which represented the United States at the International Choreographic Competitions in Paris, performing his signature ballet, "Worth A Song," receiving special congratulations from President Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter
James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
at The White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
in 1979. Leritz appeared three times on the cover of Dance Pages Magazine. Leritz appeared Off-Broadway in "Funding The Arts" at the Baryshnikov
Baryshnikov
Baryshnikov is a common Russian surname.People with this surname include:* Aleksandr Baryshnikov , Soviet athlete* Mikhail Baryshnikov , Russian American dancer* Yevhen Baryshnikov , Ukrainian footballer...
Arts Center, May 2010, acting and dancing the role of J. Edgar.
In 2006, Leritz was included in Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
's George Balanchine Collection of The New York City Ballet at The Harvard Theatre Collection and The Harvard College Library.
Leritz appeared on Broadway in Jerome Robbins directed revival of Fiddler on the Roof
Fiddler on the Roof
Fiddler on the Roof is a musical with music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and book by Joseph Stein, set in Tsarist Russia in 1905. It is based on Tevye and his Daughters by Sholem Aleichem...
with Herschel Bernardi
Herschel Bernardi
Herschel Bernardi was an American film, Broadway, and television actor....
and Maria Karnilova
Maria Karnilova
Maria Karnilova was an American actress.Born as Maria Kasnilovich in Hartford, Connecticut, Maria Karnilova made her Broadway debut in Call Me Mister in 1946...
, Fonteyn & Nureyev on Broadway
Fonteyn & Nureyev on Broadway
Fonteyn & Nureyev on Broadway was presented at the George Gershwin Theatre , . The show was a major Broadway and dance event; it was the farewell performance of the legendary ballet duo of Margot Fonteyn and Rudolf Nureyev...
, and American Dance Machine
American Dance Machine
The American Dance Machine was a theatrical dance company created by Lee Theodore, which played at the Century Theatre, opening Jun 14, 1978, running 199 performances. The show was a "Living Archive" of Broadway theatre dance; great theatre dances saved from oblivion...
. Leritz returned to co-star at The Muny
The Muny
The Muny, short for The Municipal Theatre Association of St. Louis, is an outdoor musical theatre, located in Forest Park, St. Louis, Missouri...
with Broadway's Judy Kaye
Judy Kaye
Judy Kaye is an American singer and actress. She has appeared in stage musicals, plays, and operas. Kaye has been in long runs on Broadway in the musicals The Phantom of the Opera, Ragtime and Mamma Mia!-Biography:...
, John Reardon, John Schuck
John Schuck
Conrad John Schuck Jr. is an American actor, primarily in stage, movies and television. He is best-known for his roles as police commissioner Rock Hudson's mildly slow-witted assistant, Sgt. Charles Enright in the 1970s crime drama McMillan & Wife, and as Lee Meriwether's husband, Herman Munster...
, Beth Leavel
Beth Leavel
-Biography:Leavel was born in Raleigh, North Carolina. She attended Meredith College, earning a degree in social work. She completed a graduate theatre degree at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in 1980. She acted during college, appearing in productions such as Cabaret and Hello,...
and his dance partner, Lorene Yarnell in Cole Porter
Cole Porter
Cole Albert Porter was an American composer and songwriter. Born to a wealthy family in Indiana, he defied the wishes of his domineering grandfather and took up music as a profession. Classically trained, he was drawn towards musical theatre...
's Can-Can
Can-Can (musical)
Can-Can is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter, and a book by Abe Burrows. The story concerns the showgirls of the Montmartre dance halls during the 1890s....
.
Leritz has also acted in many feature films including Julie Taymor
Julie Taymor
Julie Taymor is an American director of theater, opera and film. Taymor's work has received many accolades from critics, and she has earned two Tony Awards out of four nominations, the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Costume Design, an Emmy Award and an Academy Award nomination for Original Song...
's Across the Universe
Across the Universe (film)
Across the Universe is a musical romantic drama film directed by Julie Taymor, produced by Revolution Studios, and distributed by Columbia Pictures. The film's plot is centered around songs by The Beatles. It was released in the United States on October 12, 2007. The script is based on an original...
, The Adjustment Bureau
The Adjustment Bureau
The Adjustment Bureau is a 2011 American fantasy romantic thriller film loosely based on the Philip K. Dick short story, "Adjustment Team". The film was written and directed by George Nolfi and stars Matt Damon and Emily Blunt. The cast also includes Anthony Mackie, John Slattery, Michael Kelly,...
opposite Matt Damon
Matt Damon
Matthew Paige "Matt" Damon is an American actor, screenwriter, and philanthropist whose career was launched following the success of the film Good Will Hunting , from a screenplay he co-wrote with friend Ben Affleck...
, Dummy
Dummy (film)
Dummy is a 2002 comedy-drama film written and directed by Greg Pritikin. It stars Adrien Brody, Milla Jovovich, Illeana Douglas, Vera Farmiga and Jared Harris. It was released to home media by Lionsgate Home Entertainment on February 17, 2004....
with Adrien Brody
Adrien Brody
Adrien Brody is an American actor and film producer. He received widespread recognition and acclaim after starring in Roman Polanski's The Pianist . Winning the Academy Award for Best Actor in 2003 at age 29, he is the youngest actor to do so...
, Easy Money with Rodney Dangerfield
Rodney Dangerfield
Rodney Dangerfield , was an American comedian, and actor, known for the catchphrases "I don't get no respect!," "No respect, no respect at all... that's the story of my life" or "I get no respect, I tell ya" and his monologues on that theme...
, Legs
Legs (film)
Legs is a 1983 television musical drama film starring Shanna Reed, Deborah Geffner, Lawrence Leritz, David Marshall Grant and Maureen Teefy. It was directed by Jerrold Freedman and written by Jerrold Freedman and Brian Garfield....
with Gwen Verdon
Gwen Verdon
Gwenyth Evelyn “Gwen” Verdon was an actress and dancer who won four Tony awards for her musical comedy performances. With flaming red hair and an endearing quaver in her voice, Verdon was a critically acclaimed dancer on Broadway in the 1950s and 1960s...
and the HBO feature Stag
Stag (film)
Stag is a 1997 film, directed by Gavin Wilding, made for HBO and later released theatrically after drawing large ratings. STAG features an ensemble cast including Ben Gazzara, Andrew McCarthy, Taylor Dayne, Mario Van Peebles, Lawrence Leritz, William McNamara, John Henson, Kevin Dillon, and Jerry...
with Ben Gazzara
Ben Gazzara
-Early life:Gazzara was born Biagio Anthony Gazzara in New York City, the son of Italian immigrants Angelina and Antonio Gazzara, who was a laborer and carpenter. Gazzara grew up on New York's tough Lower East Side. He actually lived on E. 29th Street and participated in the drama program at...
, Kevin Dillon
Kevin Dillon
Kevin Dillon is an American actor.Kevin Dillon is also the name of:*Kevin Dillon , character from Rodman Philbrick's young adult novel Freak the Mighty and the film based on it, The Mighty...
and Taylor Dayne
Taylor Dayne
Taylor Dayne was born Leslie Wunderman on March 7, 1962 before later adopting her current stage name. She is an American pop vocalist, songwriter, and dance artist. Overall, she has had eighteen individual hit songs reach the top ten in Billboard magazine...
. Leritz's television appearances include NBC's Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
" with Nathan Lane
Nathan Lane
Nathan Lane is an American actor of stage and screen. He is best known for his roles as Mendy in The Lisbon Traviata, Albert in The Birdcage, Max Bialystock in the musical The Producers, Ernie Smuntz in MouseHunt, Nathan Detroit in Guys and Dolls, Pseudolus in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to...
, CBS's Capitol
Capitol (TV series)
Capitol is an American soap opera which aired on CBS from March 29, 1982 to March 20, 1987 for 1,270 episodes. As its name suggests, the storyline usually revolved around the political intrigues of people whose lives intertwined in Washington D.C....
, ABC's All My Children
All My Children
All My Children is an American television soap opera that aired on ABC from January 5, 1970 to September 23, 2011. Created by Agnes Nixon, All My Children is set in Pine Valley, Pennsylvania, a fictitious suburb of Philadelphia. The show features Susan Lucci as Erica Kane, one of daytime's most...
, CBS's Cosby
Cosby
Cosby is a situation comedy television series broadcast on CBS from September 16, 1996 to April 28, 2000, loosely based on the British sitcom One Foot in the Grave. The program starred Bill Cosby, Phylicia Rashād...
, and in HBO's Sex And The City
Sex and the City
Sex and the City is an American television comedy-drama series created by Darren Star and produced by HBO. Broadcast from 1998 until 2004, the original run of the show had a total of ninety-four episodes...
; talk shows including The Rosie O'Donnell Show
The Rosie O'Donnell Show
The Rosie O'Donnell Show is an Emmy Award-winning American daytime television talk show hosted and produced by actress and comedian Rosie O'Donnell. It aired for six seasons from 1996 to 2002...
with Liza Minnelli
Liza Minnelli
Liza May Minnelli is an American actress and singer. She is the daughter of singer and actress Judy Garland and film director Vincente Minnelli....
, Maury
Maury (TV series)
Maury is a syndicated American tabloid talk show hosted by Maury Povich.When the series first aired in 1991, the show was called The Maury Povich Show and was produced by MoPo Productions in association with Paramount Domestic Television...
, CNN's Showbiz Tonight
Showbiz Tonight
Showbiz Tonight is an American entertainment news program on HLN .Showbiz Tonight is hosted by A.J. Hammer at CNN New York. The show reports and debates celebrity entertainment news stories and controversies, along with social networking segments involving viewer interaction via social networks and...
and Entertainment Tonight
Entertainment Tonight
Entertainment Tonight is a daily tabloid television entertainment television news show that is syndicated by CBS Television Distribution throughout the United States, Canada and in many countries around the world. Linda Bell Blue is currently the program's executive producer...
.
Leritz is known in the fitness world as the choreographer to many bodybuilding stars, which included the NBC Sports television special "Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger is an Austrian-American former professional bodybuilder, actor, businessman, investor, and politician. Schwarzenegger served as the 38th Governor of California from 2003 until 2011....
's Bodybuilding Arnold Classic
Arnold Classic
The Arnold Classic, renamed Arnold Fitness Weekend, is an annual bodybuilding competition, named after Arnold Schwarzenegger. It takes place in late February or early March in Columbus, Ohio, United States.-History:...
" in 1989. Lawrence hosted and created the DVD "Total Stretch! with Lawrence Leritz" and appears in numerous issues of Joe Weider
Joe Weider
Josef E. "Joe" Weider is co-founder of the International Federation of BodyBuilders along with brother Ben Weider and creator of the Mr. Olympia, the Ms. Olympia, and the now-defunct Masters Olympia bodybuilding contests...
's "Muscle & Fitness
Muscle & Fitness
Muscle & Fitness is an American bodybuilding magazine founded by Joe Weider, but now published by American Media, Inc.-History:Muscle & Fitness has a more mainstream focus than its companion publication, Flex...
" and "Men's Fitness
Men's Fitness
Men's Fitness is a men's magazine published by American Media, Inc and founded in the United States in 1987. The premier issue featured Michael Pare from the television series The Greatest American Hero....
magazines.
Leritz produces for stage and television, including the annual television event "Day of Compassion
Day of Compassion
Day Of Compassion was an annual television special which honored those who have AIDS or who are HIV-positive. Neil Tadken, creator, was so moved by the HIV/AIDS-awareness storyline involving the character Billy Douglas on "One Life To Live", that Tadken contacted the producers of all ten daytime...
", for which Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
magazine honored Leritz as their 1996 Local Hero. During the 2003–2004 season, Leritz was the producer and choreographer of the Off-Broadway revue, Boobs! The Musical
Boobs! The Musical
Boobs! The Musical: The World According to Ruth Wallis is a musical revue with lyrics and music by 1950s and 1960s star Ruth Wallis. Using 23 of Wallis' songs, Boobs! tells the story of Ruth Wallis' international career and struggles in performing her naughty songs...
. "Boobs! The Musical" won New Orleans' 2005 Big Easy and Ambie Awards, Wichita's 2006 Teall Award and was nominated for the 2004 Mac Awards
Mac Awards
The MAC Awards, begun in 1986, are presented annually to honor achievements in cabaret, comedy, and jazz. The award is organized by the non-profit organization Manhattan Association of Clubs and Cabarets , founded in 1983....
for Best Musical Revue.
Leritz produced The 50th Anniversary Gala of The American Guild of Musical Artists
American Guild of Musical Artists
The American Guild of Musical Artists, AFL-CIO is the American labor union that represents 8,000 current and retired opera singers, ballet and other dancers, opera Directors, backstage production personnel at opera and dance companies, and figure skaters.-Jurisdiction:According to its website it...
, starring Beverly Sills
Beverly Sills
Beverly Sills was an American operatic soprano whose peak career was between the 1950s and 1970s. In her prime she was the only real rival to Joan Sutherland as the leading bel canto stylist...
and Peter Martins
Peter Martins
Peter Martins is a Danish ballet dancer and choreographer. Martins was named man of the year by Danish American Society, 1980...
at The New York State Theatre at Lincoln Center in 1986. Lawrence also choreographed the Motown feature film, "The Last Dragon
The Last Dragon
The Last Dragon is a 1985 martial arts musical film produced by Rupert Hitzig for Berry Gordy and directed by Michael Schultz. The film was a critical disappointment but a financial success, The Last Dragon is now considered a cult classic. The film stars Taimak, Vanity, Julius Carry, Christopher...
", the mime duo Shields & Yarnell for Atlantic City and for MTV.
Leritz is the Spectrum Records recording artist of the dance hit single "Crank It Up" produced by Cory Wade
Cory Wade (music producer)
Cory Wade is a former American record producer and songwriter, known for producing some of the biggest hits in disco in the 1970s. A producer for TK Records, Wade co-produced the 1977 single "Do Ya Wanna Get Funky With Me" by Peter Brown, which became the first 12-inch single to sell a million...
, performing on tour with The Weather Girls, Laura Branigan
Laura Branigan
Laura Ann Branigan was an American singer-songwriter and actress of Italian and Irish ancestry. She is best known in the United States for her 1982 Platinum-certified hit "Gloria" and in Europe for the number-one single "Self Control"...
, Sylvester, Natalie Cole
Natalie Cole
Natalie Maria Cole , is an American singer, songwriter and performer. The daughter of jazz legend Nat King Cole, Cole rode to musical success in the mid-1970s as an R&B artist with the hits "This Will Be ", "Inseparable" and "Our Love"...
and starred at the Las Vegas Stardust Hotel during its final month.
Awards, nominations and citations
- 2004 Mac AwardsMac AwardsThe MAC Awards, begun in 1986, are presented annually to honor achievements in cabaret, comedy, and jazz. The award is organized by the non-profit organization Manhattan Association of Clubs and Cabarets , founded in 1983....
Best Musical Revue (Producer nominee) - 2005 Big Easy Awards Best Musical (Producer nominee)
- 2006 Teall Awards Best Musical (Producer nominee)
- 2006 Teall Awards Best Choreography (nominee, based on original choreography by Lawrence Leritz)
- 1996 Time Magazine's Local Hero
- 1987 Lawrence Leritz Day Proclamation, Alton, IllinoisAlton, IllinoisAlton is a city on the Mississippi River in Madison County, Illinois, United States, about north of St. Louis, Missouri. The population was 27,865 at the 2010 census. It is a part of the Metro-East region of the Greater St. Louis metropolitan area in Southern Illinois...
- 1983 Lawrence Leritz Day Proclamation, Wood River, IllinoisWood River, IllinoisWood River is a city in Madison County, Illinois, United States. The population was 11,296 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Wood River is located at ....