In 1985, a young writer named Patricia Ward went to work on a TV special about the Smithsonian Institution. Her\u00a0avid interest in author Herman Melville had previously\u00a0landed\u00a0her work on a film on Melville’s life and works, something she thought would also be her future.<\/p>\n
That all\u00a0changed when Ward met the host of the Smithsonian show, a man who took over her life. He was kind and attractive and persuaded her to move to Los Angeles to help him write his memoirs. He happened to be the legendary dancer, director and choreographer Gene Kelly.<\/p>\n \u201cThe grand irony,\u201d Patricia said by phone from her home in Los Angeles, \u201cwas that I had no idea who Gene Kelly was. It stuns me now because I can\u2019t quite comprehend that. In retrospect, it really was the way to meet him, because he was a completely blank slate, and so I fell in love with his use of language, his brightness, his real charm and gentlemanly qualities before I had any idea he was famous.<\/p>\n \u201cHe was incredibly handsome \u2014 here\u2019s a guy quoting Yeats and the other romantic poets and using a wonderful blend of language that was my background. I must say I was enchanted but that was before I knew he was a legend.\u201d<\/p>\n From the moment she became Gene Kelly\u2019s official biographer, Patricia Ward recorded Gene\u2019s words daily. They were wed in 1990 and she became Patricia Ward Kelly. He died in 1996 and she\u2019s been talking about him and living with him ever since.<\/p>\n To celebrate his 100th birthday in 2012 she wrote a one-woman show about his life, his influence on dance in film and his legacy as an actor\/choreographer and a unique human being.<\/p>\n Kelly\u2019s films include \u201cSingin\u2019 in the Rain\u201d (1952) and \u201cAn American in Paris\u201d (1951) and they continued on and on, right up to the cult favorite, \u201cXanadu\u201d (1980).<\/p>\n Under the auspices of San Diego Theatres, Patricia Ward Kelly presents \u201cGene Kelly: The Legacy, an Afternoon with Patricia Ward Kelly\u201d on Saturday, April 15 at 2 p.m. in the Balboa Theatre. The show consists of stories, video, and tales of magical days in Hollywood, presented with great love and intimacy.<\/p>\n On Sunday, April 2, Kelly provides a preamble, personally introducing the screening of her late husband\u2019s films, \u201cSingin\u2019 in the Rain,\u201d at 1 p.m. and \u201cAn American in Paris\u201d at 5 p.m.<\/p>\n Asked if she expects to continue devoting her life to Gene Kelly, his archives, and his legacy, Patricia said, \u201cWell, I hope so, because I\u2019m having such a good time, and it\u2019s a privilege. If I kick the bucket, I could say I\u2019ve had an extraordinary run.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a joy to share Gene\u2019s work,\u201d she continued. \u201cWe\u2019re part of a wonderful community. In a sense, he doesn\u2019t need me \u2014 he\u2019ll continue \u2014 but I am able to introduce him to younger generations and to people who love him very much but aren\u2019t aware of the many dimensions of him. For instance the artists involved in the film \u2018La La Land\u2019 came to study Gene\u2019s work. To the degree I can provide Gene\u2019s heart and process to the world, I want to keep doing that.\u201d<\/p>\n Treat yourself to a Gene Kelly fest at the Balboa Theatre in April. The combination of seeing the films introduced by Patricia Ward Kelly and then seeing her show makes for a rich experience.<\/p>\n Tickets are on sale now at Balboa Theatre, 868 Fourth Ave. at E Street, adjacent to Horton Plaza, and online at bit.ly\/2mcYCOj<\/em><\/a> y bit.ly\/2mcIoEE<\/em><\/a> or 619-570-1100.<\/p>\n \u2014Charlene Baldridge has been writing about the arts since 1979. You can follow her blog at charlenecriticism.blogspot.com<\/a><\/em> o llegar a ella en charb81@gmail.com<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Por Charlene Baldridge<\/p>","protected":false},"author":731,"featured_media":239045,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"What most becomes a legend","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11549,11547,11600,11550],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-239044","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-entertainment","category-features","category-sdnews","category-top-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239044","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/731"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=239044"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239044\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/239045"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=239044"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=239044"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=239044"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"What](\"https:\/\/sandiegodowntownnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/web-MAIN-Carousel-Ball-GK-PK-02.jpg\")
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