Film screening to celebrate women of TV variety
2/11/2025 12AM
Stars featured in the new PBS documentary "Showstoppers" include (from left) Leslie Uggams, Peggy Lee, Carol Burnett, Diahann Carroll, Ann-Margret, Mitzi Gaynor and Lily Tomlin
March 2 event will include Q&A with filmmakers, Debby Boone
CARMEL, Ind. – The Great American Songbook Foundation is celebrating Women’s History Month in March with a screening of a new PBS documentary that draws from its extensive Songbook Library & Archives.
Showstoppers! Great Women of TV Variety honors artists such as Carol Burnett, Cher, Ann-Margret, Diahann Carroll, Della Reese, Doris Day, Mitzi Gaynor, Lily Tomlin and other trailblazing icons who changed American popular culture through the network television musical variety series and specials of the 1960s and ’70s. Hosted by three-time Grammy Award winner Debby Boone, the one-hour special features full-length song, dance and comedy performances as well as interviews with the stars and others involved.
The Songbook Foundation will screen the film at 2 p.m. Sunday, March 2, at the Tarkington at Allied Solutions Center for the Performing Arts, 3 Carter Green, Carmel. WFYI Public Media is partnering with the Foundation on the event, which is part of the WFYI Live event series. General admission tickets at $10 for adults and $5 for students are available now at TheSongbook.org/Showstoppers or by phone at (317) 843-3800. Accessible seating for groups may be reserved by phone or via email at Tickets@TheCenterPresents.org.
Singer Debby Boone hosts the new film and will attend the screening.
Following the screening, attendees can enjoy an in-person panel discussion with the film’s host, Debby Boone; its Emmy-winning filmmakers, René Reyes and Shane Rosamonda; and Holly Foster Wells, granddaughter of the late Peggy Lee and president of Peggy Lee Associates, who is featured in the film. Attendees also will receive pre-recorded greetings from some exciting special guests.
In conjunction with the screening, a temporary display in the adjacent Studio Theater from 1 to 5 p.m. March 2 will feature costumes worn by stars featured in the documentary, many of them Songbook Hall of Fame members. No ticket is required to view the items, worn by artists including:
For the remainder of March, the costumes will be displayed in the Songbook Exhibit Gallery at the Palladium.
The Songbook Foundation supported the making of the documentary by providing access to its archival collections and materials of artists featured in the film, including Gaynor, Diahann Carroll, Florence Henderson and the Lennon Sisters.
The Showstoppers! event is generously supported by the Loser family of Indianapolis with additional support from the City of Carmel.
About the Great American Songbook Foundation
The mission of the Great American Songbook Foundation, founded in 2007 by five-time Grammy® Award nominee Michael Feinstein, is to inspire and educate by celebrating the 20th-century foundational era of American popular music. Headquartered at Allied Solutions Center for the Performing Arts in Carmel, Indiana, the Foundation advances this rich legacy by curating physical artifacts of its creators, performers and publishers in the Songbook Library & Archives; operating a multimedia exhibit gallery; overseeing the Songbook Hall of Fame; offering programs for the public and research opportunities for scholars and artists; and providing educational opportunities for student musicians, including the annual Songbook Academy® summer intensive. The Foundation is a Cultural Affiliate of the Los Angeles-based Grammy Museum®. More information is available at TheSongbook.org.
