Authors: Kristi Lynn Davis
Long Legs and Tall Tales: A Showgirl's Wacky, Sexy Journey to the Playboy Mansion and the Radio City Rockettes
LONG LEGS and TALL TALES
A Showgirl’s Wacky, Sexy Journey
to the Playboy Mansion and the Radio City Rockettes
Kristi Lynn Davis
Shaw House Publishing
Dexter, Michigan
Copyright 2015 by Kristi Lynn Davis
Published in the United States
by Shaw House Publishing, PO Box 477, Dexter, MI 48130, U.S.A.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in, or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
Cover sketch:
Radio City Christmas “Bizzazz" Rockettes by Pete Menefee (Copyright 1999) is reproduced with the permission of Pete Menefee.
Cover Design:
Annie Capps,
www.swampstreetdesign.com
Interior Design:
Caligraphics,
www.caligraphics.net
Photos:
Doug Coombe,
www.dougcoombe.com
Editor:
Ken Wachsberger,
www.azenphonypress.com
ISBN 978-0-9964576-4-4
Library of Congress Control Number: 2015909262
Prologue: Setting the Stage
Chapter 1 - FINAL SCENE: Florida, July/August 2002
Dolly Dinkle’s School of Dance
Act 1: Learning the Ropes
Chapter 2 - FINAL SCENE: New York City, August 9, 2002
Scene 1: Taking a Bite Out of the Big Apple
Chapter 3 - FINAL SCENE: New York City, August 9, 2002
Scene 2: California, Here I Come!
Chapter 4 - FINAL SCENE: New York City, August 9, 2002
Scene 3: Beef and Boards
Chapter 5 - FINAL SCENE: New York City, August 10, 2002
Scene 4: The Cow’s Behind (& Other Embarrassing Parts)
Chapter 6 - FINAL SCENE: New York City, August 10, 2002
Scene 5: Come and Listen to a Story About a Man Named Jed
Act 2: On the Road, Sky, and Sea
Chapter 7 - FINAL SCENE: New York City, August 10, 2002
Scene 1: Playboy’s Girls of Rock & Roll
Chapter 8 - FINAL SCENE: New York City, August 10, 2002
Scene 2: Let Me Be Your Sugar Baby
Chapter 9 - FINAL SCENE: New York City, August 10, 2002
Scene 3: The Love Boat
Act 3: The Radio City Rockettes
Chapter 10 - FINAL SCENE: New York City, August 10, 2002
Scene 1: The Audition
Chapter 11 - FINAL SCENE: New York City, August 10, 2002
Scene 2: Branson
Chapter 12 - FINAL SCENE: New York City, August 10, 2002
Scene 3: Vegas
Chapter 13 - FINAL SCENE: New York City, August 10, 2002
Scene 4: Detroit
Chapter 14 - FINAL SCENE: New York City, August 10, 2002
When I was asked to write a foreword for this wonderful book, it brought back all the joy I had choreographing and getting to know Kristi Davis and the fabulous Rockettes. Since then, I've choreographed for many, many dancers but I must say Kristi and the Rockettes were and still are some of the best all-around dancers I've ever worked with. Pure joy, that’s the only way I can explain how I felt walking into the rehearsal room and seeing those wonderful dancers all warmed up and ready to dance their hearts out. A choreographer’s dream.
Kristi Davis was special in that, even though she knew how to blend in as the Rockette dancers are trained to do, individual charisma will always shine through. Ms. Davis was certainly one of those dancers. You will experience that love and charisma in every page of her story,
Long Legs and Tall Tales
. I'm proud to have been asked to be a part of Kristi’s dancing life.
Kristi, you’re fabulous!
- Maurice Hines, director, choreographer, and Tony-nominated star of stage, screen, and television
Reading Long Legs and Tall Tales has been such a fun and enlightening and enjoyable experience! Once upon a time, a girl from my home town was living her dream, and it inspired me to do the same. Kristi Davis takes us from her humble Michigan beginnings to her show-stopping performances in Vegas and worldwide.
From Midwestern model student to performing in the Flintstones extravaganza at Universal Studios to becoming a member of Playboy’s Girls of Rock and Roll to fulfilling her ultimate fantasy as a world-famous Rockette and then teacher and mentor of “The Rockette Experience,” Kristi shares the dreams, the drama, the delight, and the despair. Readers will vicariously experience her ups and downs, including the good, the bad, and the harrowing life of a professional dancer, and be grateful for the ride.
Kristi and I grew up in the same Michigan town and attended the same high school, where we both performed in musicals. Our paths crossed only during these occasions, but our lives have been forever linked by a shared mutual friend, who also went on to perform professionally.
Like most Midwesterners, and people outside of Los Angeles and New York, I didn’t know that performing professionally was an option, so I pursued a more traditional career in public relations and marketing. Still, my love of performing drew me back to the stage, and soon I was being paid as a professional actor, a voice-over artist, and a television spokesperson in local and regional markets, all the while continuing my traditional “9 to 5.”
One day, our mutual friend forwarded me a “newsletter” written by Kristi, outlining her day-to-day adventures in Hollywood and touring with Playboy’s Girls of Rock and Roll. I was fascinated to no end; Kristi was just like me; yet, while I was working in offices, she was working full time as an entertainer. (Coincidentally, our mutual friend had just been awarded a coveted position singing professionally on world cruises.) I remember thinking, “Hey, if she can do it, why can’t I?” Kristi’s words reminded me that it IS possible to achieve your dreams, and, by gosh, I was going to start aiming higher with my own.
I became an entertainment professional because I admired her success. Now, it is an honor to be among the first to read of her experiences—to laugh at the humor, to join in the fun, and to empathize with the frustrations. Kristi outlines what I, too, experienced—that being catapulted “suddenly” to great heights is both fabulous and foreign. There are no overnight success stories—as Kristi and I both know, success comes from a long road of hard work and commitment, overcoming challenges and emotional roller coasters. Fame is not the objective, nor is money—which is good, because it’s rarely consistent! We do it because we love it, because it’s in our souls. It’s not for the faint of heart, but it can fill your heart tremendously!
Whether you’re an industry insider or you’re still reaching for the stars, Kristi shows you what it’s like to reach for them, to finally touch them, and then to savor the feel of them and go beyond them.
High kicks of praise for this behind-the-scenes memoir by the star who inspired me to follow my dreams! A page turner from beginning to end. A must-read for anyone with show business aspirations or a dancing career in the making, as well as those curious about the life of a professional entertainer. I didn’t want it to end.
- Suzanne Sena, national news anchor and Emmy-nominated host
There are three reasons you might want to read this intro: 1.) I’m going to explain how the book is written so you don’t get confused; 2.) I’m going to clarify that this book is
based on
a true story (tightly, not loosely); and 3.) it’s so short, in the time it takes you to think about whether you should skip it to get to the juicy stuff or just read it you could have already finished reading it. Here we go:
1.) The book includes a “Prologue” followed by 3 “Acts” within which are various “Scenes” like a theatre play (clever, eh?) plus what I call the “Final Scene.” The story starts out in the final scene, which takes place a little bit in Florida but mostly in New York City and covers the last few months of my career but mostly the last two days. Everything else is a chronological flashback. So you’ll read a final scene (which is short) and then you’ll read a flashback scene (which is long). The final scenes and flashback scenes alternate throughout the book. You’ll get the hang of it. By the end of the book, the flashback scenes catch up with the final scene, and you’ll see how it all fits together.
2.) I say this book is “based on” a true story instead of is a true story, because my faulty memory could have gotten some of the details wrong (and I did purposefully alter a few details that were overly embarrassing or potentially incriminating). For the most part, and to the best of my knowledge and ability to confirm facts, it’s true (at least from my perspective at the time). What is not true are some of the names. The famous people I name really were those people. So were most of the directors and choreographers. But I did change the names of my castmates and a few others (and “Celebration Magnifico” is not the real name of the company I worked for, but it’s a darn good name and someone should snatch it up right away). My hope was that, if people recognized themselves in the story, they’d smile and want to shake my hand and not slap me upside the head. (Except for maybe two people, but I still tried to treat their situations responsibly and respectfully.) However, since I did not ask everyone’s permission, and you can never be sure how people will respond, I just changed the names. I truly thank and honor everyone who played a role (both enjoyable and challenging) in my story. I hope I played a positive role in theirs.
3.) See, you’re done. Now just read the Acknowledgments so you can see who I thank (maybe you) and you can get to the juicy stuff.