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ent000830-055
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University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Libraries

BAMBI McCORMICK . . . Camera Records Typical Shots Of County Vocalist Starring in Las Vegas Hit Revue. Vegas Puts Its Spotlight On 'Pzazz' And Bambi TALL, blue - eyed, shapely Bambi McCormick, 23-year- old daughter of a pioneer Ox- nard family, is now appearing nightly in what is termed "one of the most beautiful" revues ever presented at the Desert Inn, Las Vegas. Beautiful, yes. But it is far more than that. Called "Pzazz;!, *68," it is a fast moving variety program with some of the'most original stage settings ever conceived. The girls are uniformly lovely and nudity is not the m o d e. thank goodness. The chorus isn't overdressed ?╟÷ but at least they ARE dressed, attractively. As for Ventura County's Miss McCormick, she is one of the featured performers. She IS Act Three, all of it, and her vocal solos come off very neatly indeed. Bambi's success in show biz is no rags to riches story, she traded the security of a lovely family home in Camarillo for the glitter and excitement of a stage career. A fifth generation Californian, Bambi was born in Ventura Nov. 26, 1943. Her father, James McCormick, owned a citrus ranch near Camarillo. She was christened Mary Claire, but her brother, James Jr., nicknamed her Bambi, and the name caught on. immediately and has stuck with her. Bambi's ancestry even includes a remote relationship to the late renowned operatic tenor, John McCormack. However her mother commented the relationship is so far removed, Bambi continues to discount it, although press agents always mention it in news releases. The MeCormicks presently live oo the old McCormick ranch oo Fifth street, Oxnard, built by Bambi's grandfather, Tom McCormick, who died in 1954. jgAMBI'S solo offering in the colorful and lavish Las Vegas revue represent the biggest step in her career, including years of study, two bit-singing jobs and a wearying nightclub circuit. Her singing career began when she and a friend sang "Patience and Prudence" for an Oxnard Lions Club affair while Bambi was still in the eighth grade. She attended St. Catherine's Academy in Ventura from grammar school through high school, and took her first vocal lesson* - when she was 13. The singer attended two summer sessions at the Music Academy of the West where, at 1% she was the youngest to study with Lotte Lehman and Martial Singher. They introduced her to opera, which she found fascinating, but tiring. "One day," Bambi laughed, "I decided to hell with opera, I wanted to sing in musical comedies." Bambi majored in music at the San Francisco College for Women after her graduation from St. Catherine's in 1961, and it was there she first encountered the fun world of musical comedy, .appearing in college productions of "Lil Abner" and "Oklahoma". After two years at college, she returned home and starred again in "Oklahoma" with the Valley Musical Comedy Players. She also starred in a non-musical/"A Thousand Clowns" with the Plaza Players. RAMBI became a member of "The Milestones" Wo while spending a semester at the Pasadena Playhouse and with this group, she performed in a Zeig- feld Follies production in Las Vegas in 1965. The trio was not too successful, and broke up after two or three months. In February of 1966, the singer began a nightclub tour, through the Midwest and into Texas, Six months ago, she joined Don Cornell's act, which he takes to the lounges of Harrahs in Reno and Tahoe and the Stardust in Las Vegas. This led to her recent and greatest break, the spot with "Pzazz! '68" which opened with a splash Sept. 28. Her parents, in the opening night audience, were thrilled with their daughter's success and the show since has been on Las Vegas' hit list. Getting tickets to either the dinner show or late show is a challenge to Vegas visitors. "She would like to do more musical comedies on a professional level, and the Las Vegas revue may open some doors for her," her mother added.