The Search Is On ... Again

POSTED: July 29, 2010



After little more than a year at the helm of the Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Center, Corie Curtis, a Falconer native, has stepped down from the post.

The center's board of directors announced the change in a news release Wednesday.

Thomas P. Benson, board president, said the center has undergone an internal restructuring and cross-training of staff, daily operations are running efficiently and the center's recent and upcoming activities are evidence of its vision to create a comedy movement in the area.

"The center has made significant progress the past year," Benson said, "and that progress includes a renewed commitment to our purpose of promoting and developing comedy."

Ms. Curtis holds a degree in advertising and communications from Johnson & Wales University in Providence, R.I. For three years until 2008, she served as the volunteer executive director of the Feed Their Dreams Children's Foundations. She has also worked as a member of the Council for the Advancement & Support of Education and, in 2004, served as the fundraising consultant for the Rhode Island Hospitality & Tourism Association's capital campaign.

"My time at Lucy-Desi has been an unforgettable experience and I am grateful to have had the opportunity to work with and for such capable and kind people. Professionally, my departure from this amazing career was a very difficult decision, but my heart is leading me on to an entirely new adventure," Ms. Curtis said.

Ms. Curtis' departure is the latest in a turbulent couple of years for the center since the departure of Ric Wyman in September 2008. The center was forced to close its gift shop, a building on North Main Street that is now up for sale, and consolidate operations into two other buildings on West Third Street. Hours at the Desilu Playhouse and museum were reduced and several employees were laid off as part of the board's efforts to trim expenses and keep the center afloat.

Lucie Arnaz-Luckinbill, daughter of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, said the center is still going strong and wished Ms. Curtis well in her future endeavors.

"Corie has been a godsend and the center has never been stronger,'' Ms. Arnaz-Luckinbill said. "We hate to see her go follow other dreams and even tried locking her in her office. But we were finally convinced even the best of our leaders deserve to explore the possibility of true love! My brother Desi and I wish her only the best and look forward to the new ideas and renewed energy that change always brings."

Curtis Resigns As Lucy-Desi Executive Director

POSTED: July 28, 2010

After nearly a year at the helm of the Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Center, Corie Curtis has stepped down from the post.

The center's board of directors announced the change in a news release Wednesday.

Thomas P. Benson, board president, said the center has undergone an internal restructuring and cross-training of staff, daily operations are running efficiently and the center's recent and upcoming activities are evidence of its vision to create a comedy movement in the area.

"The center has made significant progress the past year," Benson said, "and that progress includes a renewed commitment to our purpose of promoting and developing comedy."

"My time at Lucy-Desi has been an unforgettable experience and I am grateful to have had the opportunity to work with and for such capable and kind people. Professionally, my departure from this amazing career was a very difficult decision, but my heart is leading me on to an entirely new adventure," Ms. Curtis said.

'An Evening With Lucille Ball: Thank You For Asking' at Meadow Brook

Published: Friday, July 23, 2010
By Heidi Bitsoli, For the Daily Tribune

If you love Lucy, this one-woman show is for you.

"An Evening With Lucille Ball: 'Thank You For Asking,'" is part of the Meadow Brook Music Festival in Rochester. The July 24 show promises to bring the "Queen of Comedy" to life thanks to the efforts of actress Suzanne LaRusch and Ball's daughter.

LaRusch wrote the play with Lucie Arnaz Luckinbill, and audiences will be treated to many memorable moments, including what inspired those unforgettable "I Love Lucy" sketches and a glimpse into her fiery and complex marriage to Cuban bandleader Desi Arnaz. The show is in the form of lectures Ball loved to give throughout her career.

LaRusch has been doing Lucy impersonations since 1991, for theme parks, corporate parties and shows.

In 2006 she had her "light-bulb moment, (and) I came up with the present formula, which is the question and answer because she did (those)," LaRusch said. "That's how I tell her story"

LaRusch cautions audiences against expecting an evening of greatest hits.

"It's a play. We do questions and answers as if it was happening in that moment in time, but since it's a play (the voices are) recorded. You'll see me onstage saying, 'OK, how about that lady in the back ... I'm sorry, the gentleman ...,' " which are lines Ball actually said.

LaRusch counts herself a fan of Ball, but "no more than anyone else. She's a beloved icon and comedian. I've been a fan of her comedy. I'm an actress, so I'm not a Lucy fan that had to 'be' her."

LaRusch sought the advice of Ball's daughter to "get the essence of Lucy."

"She had great input, so I asked her to direct," LaRusch said about the show which came together in 2006. Arnaz eventually said yes, changing and tightening the script, "adding family intimacies and secrets."

But "it's not favorite skits at all," LaRusch said. "If you want to see 'Lucy' skits, then buy a DVD. But if you want to know the stories behind those famous skits, come and see my show (and find out) what made this lady tick."

What are some of the revelations? "You have to see the show to get a couple of the big ones," LaRusch teased. She won't give answers but she'll share such questions as: "Was Desi Arnaz the love of your life?"

In the show, "you find out how she really felt."

The show offers a behind-the-skits perspective. "We do Vitameatavegamin as a flashback" because people always ask about it.

Also revealed: What Lucy was really drinking in that skit.

Another revelation is the infamous chocolate factory scene. "We tell the story behind the candy and find a clever way to work in the candy without having a conveyer belt on stage." Also, did she really eat all those chocolates? Listen and learn.

Also revealed: Ball's favorite episode, and it didn't involve grape-stomping, chocolate overload or Vitameatavegamin.

"An Evening with Lucille Ball: 'Thank You for Asking'" comes to Meadow Brook Music Festival on the Oakland University campus in Rochester Hills at 8 p.m. July 24. Tickets are $22.50 reserved pavilion and $15 general admission pavilion at Palacenet.com, The Palace Box Office and Ticketmaster locations. Special Superfan seating is available. Tickets may also be charged by phone to American Express, Discover, Visa and MasterCard by calling (800) 745-3000.

Lucille Ball - Ball's Daughter Reaches Deal With Auction House

From Contactmusic.com
19 July 2010
A California auction house selling LUCILLE BALL memorabilia has reached a deal to return the late acting legend's lifetime achievement awards to her daughter.

Ball's daughter with first husband Desi Arnaz, Lucie Arnaz Luckinbill, was left items including love letters, a Rolls Royce and trophies from the star's acting career in her mum's will when the comedienne died in 1989.

However, the widow of Ball's second husband, Susie Morton, claimed Luckinbill failed to collect the items following Ball's passing, and planned to sell them off at Heritage Auction Galleries over the weekend (17-18Jul10).

Luckinbill threatened to take legal action over the auction of her late mother's personal items because it "insults her memory".

Auction bosses stepped in, and agreed on Saturday (17Jul10) to return the awards to Luckinbill, but the other items remained in the sale.

Luckinbill plans to display the trophies in a museum honouring her mother, reports the Associated Press.

Lucille Ball's Daughter Wins Case Against Step-Mom, Can't Stop Auction

7/17/10
Judge orders $250,000 bond to hold 'I Love Lucy' memorabilia
Kate Schwab

Lucille Ball’s daughter tried to stop her stepmother from selling family heirlooms at an auction.

In court on Friday, the judge agreed, but Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Robert O'Brien ordered Lucie Arnaz Luckinbill to pony up a $250,000 bond to get her restraining order issued against Susie Morton, according to the Associated Press.

Luckinbill’s attorney, Ronald Palmieri, called the decision “very sad” and said his client could not afford that amount.

“We won on a legal basis, and the judge took it away from us on an economic basis," he said.

Luckinbill is the daughter of Ball and her first husband, Desi Arnaz. Morton is the surviving widow of Ball’s second husband, Gary Morton.

After Luckinbill sought to block her stepmother’s plans to sell some of the I Love Lucy star’s memorabilia through Heritage Auction Galleries, Morton countered with a lawsuit, arguing that Luckinbill lost her rights to the heirlooms after her deceased husband’s estate was settled. The items set for auction include love letters
between Ball and Arnaz, a Rolls-Royce and photographs.

Luckinbill said she wanted to donate the items to a museum exhibit.

According to the Internet Movie Database, Ball, who died in 1989, was not only a comedy star but also a film pioneer. She became the first woman to own her own television studio, which she called Desilu.

Battle brewing over Lucille Ball auction in LA

LOS ANGELES - July 16, 2010 — Heirs of the late Lucille Ball and her second husband are sparring over the planned auction of the some of the couple's prized possessions.

Among the items on the auction block are love letters between Ball and Gary Morton, a Rolls Royce and some of the actress' awards. Morton was the comedienne's second husband.

The items were consigned to Heritage Auction Galleries by Susie Morton, who married Gary Morton after Ball's death in 1989.

Ball's daughter from her first marriage with co-star Desi Arnaz wants some of the items returned. An attorney for Lucie Arnaz Luckinbill says she will go to court Friday to try to block the sale if the items are not returned.

Susie Morton asked a judge Monday to determine that she has the right to offer the items for auction.