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Mews Small
In 1966, Maria von Trapp came to Mews’s (then Mary Small Rusk) opening night as the lead in The Sound of Music. At the end of the show, there was a standing ovation and Mrs. Trapp stood up, hugged Mews, and said, “I have seen many Marias, but tonight it was I. There couldn't be a better Maria.” She then invited Mews to perform with her at the Montreal World’s Fair, where Mews stunned the crowed of 20, 000.
Mews eventually landed the role of ‘Frenchy’ in the original Broadway show Grease, and later played the same role opposite John Travolta at the Schubert in Los Angeles.
Mews had a lot of fun playing the New York City night club circuit and performed many concerts on the East coast before coming to Hollywood with Woody Allen’s film Sleeper.
Mews has had feature roles in 18 feature films and numerous television shows. She has worked with Susan Sarandon, Morgan Freeman, Henry Fonda, James Earl Jones, Elizabeth Taylor, Danny De Vito, Gene Wilder, Vanessa Redgrave, and Jim Carrey. One of Mews’s most notable roles was that of Candy, opposite Jack Nicholson, in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Mews has three new feature films to be released in 2007.
Mews sings every week at the UnUrban and at numerous other venues around Los Angeles. Her new CD, Pearl Street Garage #1, plays on radio stations around the country. She will release her new CD in August 2007.
Mews has been collecting songs for many years and has 6 more albums planned. Early Americana with special ragtime songs, a country album, popular songs, some very special unknown treasures by wonderful composers, and a few of her own.
She is working on her own first feature film and an amazing little book and occasionally has a painting show around town.
Mews’s recent appearance in the title role of the play Kimberly Akimbo was a big sucess, and she is looking to do more productions of Kimberly Akimbo.
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Mews Small: Pearl Street Garage #1
by Craig W. Hurst
In the liner notes to Pearl Street Garage #1 , actress and singer Mews Small gives special thanks to her Grandma Lily for saving her old sheet music in her garage of treasures." Thanks to Grandma Lily, Small and the Small Band revive a treasure trove of songs from times long gone by. Most of the songs date from the 1920s, with two traditional songs and a Russian folk song dating from the 19th century, and one song, Charles Harris' ...
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