LAS VEGAS — Micky Dolenz of Monkees fame will be hosting the 2013 Parnelli Awards in Las Vegas on November 23, executive producer Terry Lowe announced. “We are thrilled to have this consummate entertainer hosting our 13th annual award show,” said Lowe, also publisher of PLSN and FRONT of HOUSE magazines. “His long career as a top performer and his great sense of humor will make for a memorable night. We’re going to have a lot of fun.”
“Ever since I was a child actor, I was usually more interested in what was going on backstage than onstage,” Dolenz said. “That interest still exists to this day, and I am forever grateful to the men and women who contribute so much to a live performance but, often, do not receive the props that they are due.”
This year, the live event industry’s highest honors will take place at the Mirage Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas on Nov. 23. Bruce Springsteen’s production manager, George Travis will be receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award, which will be presented by manager Jon Landau. Mark Engebretson and Eric Pearce will also receive lifetime honors for their work in audio and lighting respectively. All other awards are yet to be determined, and the nominations period ends Friday, Sept. 27. Be sure to let your voice be heard – go to http://parnelliawards.com/nominate.php.
Dolenz was born in the Los Angeles area, where his dad, George, starred in a number of films and played the title character in the 1950s television series The Count of Monte Christo. Dolenz himself starred in his first TV series, Circus Boy, from 1956 to 1958.
In 1965 he was cast as the drummer and lead singer of the Monkees, and has continually performed with the band since, including the band’s 45th Anniversary Tour in 2011 and, after band member Davy Jones’ death in early 2012, a reunion with the three surviving band members late last year, followed by “A Midsummer’s Night with The Monkees,” a 24-date tour, in July and August, 2013.
Through the years Dolenz has also recorded and performed as a solo act and with songwriters Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart. He also is often featured in the “Happy Together Tour” that stars The Turtles’ Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan (a.k.a. Flo & Eddie — the marvelous hosts of the 2011 Parnelli Awards).
In 2010, Dolenz released King For a Day, where he performs 14 songs written by Carole King, who penned “Pleasant Valley Sunday” for the Monkees. (Along with Boyce, Hart and King, Monkees songwriters included Neil Diamond, who wrote “I’m a Believer,” along with other tunes performed by Dolenz.)
Dolenz is a multi-faceted performer with a varied career beyond music. In the late 1970s and early 1980s he parlayed his interest in behind-the-scenes production as a producer-director for the BBC and London Weekend Television, and directed a short film feature, The Box, written by Monty Python’s Michael Palin and Terry Jones.
He’s appeared in movies including Rob Zombie’s remake of Halloween and the television show Boy Meets World, among others. He’s directed theater and TV, and performed in many musicals, including a 2006 revival of Pippin and, in 2010, the West End production of Hairspray. Dolenz has also been a DJ for WCBS-FM in New York and done a great deal of voice-over work for cartoons including Batman: The Animated Series.
For more information and to reserver your spot (or table) at the 2013 Parnelli Awards, go to www.parnelliawards.com and www.parnelliawards.com/reservations.php.
