Laurita today – Laurita was a lot of fun on our last Polyester Fest cruise. Plans are underway to get her on the next one. Her famous smile, as seen here, is understandable contagious and capable of spreading good, positive mojo wherever you see it. She personifies the maxim of the Aluminum Rule, to Enjoy the Ride, and despite a good deal of adveristy in her life, she comes through smiling.

Entertaining Wounded Soldiers during WWII – Laurita was one of many dancers and entertainers who gave of their time and talents to ease the burdens of wounded soldiers in veteran's hospitals. The entertainment was a great morale boost to these young men. Laurita kept in touch with many of them through the years. This photo is of an exhibition dance group during an era when chorus lines of "Pony Girls" were popular.

Pony Girl – The young woman talking with the MC was not a dancer – she was actually a comedian who acted as if she didn't know the routine, causing a virtual trainwreck and bringing the house down. Here, the MC is questioning her in a Burns & Allen-style routine. Laurita's job, along with the other dancers, was to play it straight and provide the chorus line expertise against the comedic element.

Laurita on location with Bob Newhart – Laurita is a SAG card-carrying actress with countless roles under her belt. She has worked on films for big and small screen, as well as sit coms, dramas, commercials, and anything else that came across her agent's desk. Laurita stopped actively pursuing roles a few years ago when her longtime agent retired.

Always Dancing – Here Laurita is on the set of a film made about the life of Woody Guthrie.

Laurita with Michael Douglas – During The Streets of San Francisco era, Laurita caught a photo op with then TV star Michael Douglas. She once told us a very funny thing that happened after this picture was taken, having to do with something she said about Michael's father Kirk Douglas, a favorite of Laurita's – but she made us swear we would keep it to ourselves. Sorry. But you may be able to have her recall the story in person if you catch her at one of our northern California shows.

Laurita and Bruce Wandmayer – Here Laurita is dancing with her favorite bandmember, "Loose Bruce" Wandmayer, on our Polyester Fest Cruise 2007. If she is at the venue when the band arrives (yes, many times, she beats us to our own gigs, already having made friends with the venue staff), Laurita will greet everyone with hugs. Bruce, the uncontested most charming member of the band, always gets the longest hug. Bruce is clearly her favorite. While admittedly jealous, the rest of us have learned to deal with this fact.

Silver Haired but never "old" – During a performance at our Halloween in Las Vegas show, we had just finished singing a brand new song: "I Was Just Flipped Off By A Silver Haired Old Lady With A 'Honk If You Love Jesus' Sticker On The Bumper Of Her Car." It was the first time we had played the song, and we didn't know how it would go over. The crowd loved it, and it's stayed in our play lists ever since. But the best moment came when the song was over, and I nervously watched a determined Laurita walk to the front of the stage, and with everyone watching, flip me off. Never breaking character, she turned and walked back to her seat. We all just collapsed on stage. The audience loved it, but it took several minutes for us to gain control of the room after that. We knew then that Laurita was family.