Susan Anton is ‘All Shook Up’
in 1950s rock musical

By Rita Charleston
For the Times

She’s a former Miss California and second runner-up in the 1970 Miss America Pageant.
She made a splash on TV in the late 1970s and, with her nearly 6-foot frame, made another splash thanks to dating sometime beau, the late 5-foot 2-inch English actor, Dudley Moore.
Susan Anton‘s been a singer, appeared in films, was a popular spokeswoman for the Muriel Cigar Company, had her own shows, exercise videos and more.
And now, with a wealth of experience behind her, is happily performing in All Shook Up, at the Merriam Theater through Feb. 25.
Combining favorite Elvis Presley songs with a rock ‘n’ roll story, this musical that was on Broadway recently, tells the romantic tale of how a young girl’s dream comes true when a guitar-playing roustabout rides into a square state and turns the town upside down with his hip-swiveling, lip-curling and sexy song singing.
Elvis fans will delight in such Presley hit songs like Heartbreak Hotel, Burning Love, Jailhouse Rock, Blue Suede Shoes and many others.
"The action takes place in 1955 in a little town in the middle of nowhere where nothing ever happens," Anton explained.
"It all happens within a twenty-four-hour period, and it reveals how this character, who resembles Elvis, comes to town with his music and his freewheeling spirit and gets everybody in town to wake up from the doldrums of their existence and get back to experiencing and celebrating life.
"This show, which kind of got lost on Broadway in a bunch of jukebox musicals, is wonderful," Anton continued. "And although it’s not really about Elvis, his estate did give us permission to use the songs from the library."
Anton, born in Oak Glen, Calif., in 1950, the eldest of five children, lived an early life that read as if it had been scripted by a clever writer. Each morning, she would ride her horse to a one-room schoolhouse where, in her third year, she was one of only two people in the entire third grade class.
Her first foray into performing came during the third-grade talent show where she played the Hungarian Rhapsody on the piano. She went on to attend high school in the neighboring valley of Yucaipa where her life was about to change dramatically.
On a dare from her then-boyfriend, Anton entered — and won — the Miss Redlands beauty contest which became a prelude to Miss America and the first step to what would become her illustrious career.
She made her Broadway debut in the Tony-nominated play Hurleyburly, replacing Candice Bergen, and later took to the stage in more roles. She first emerged on the big screen in the film Goldengirl and went on to appear in many others.
Her television credits, too, are numerous, including the critically acclaimed series Civil Wars, Quantum Leap, Night Court and Murder, She Wrote.
"But believe me, it hasn’t all been glamorous," Anton said. "Like many others waiting for their break in this business, I waited on tables, was a car hop and cleaned offices at night like the Carol Burnett scrub woman, all so I would be free to go on auditions during the day. And little by little, it began to happen for me."
Today, playing Sandra in All Shook Up, Anton admitted that she’s happy with it all.
The only problem in touring, she says, is "getting acclimated from city to city and learning how to fill your basic needs, like learning where the corner drug store is, how to get your laundry done, where to buy your vitamins — the kinds of things you take for granted when you’re home.
"But I wouldn’t change a thing. I just want to go through life with grace." ••
For times and ticket information, call 215-336-1234.