Superstar Davis Gaines gets ready for upcoming performances at the Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts.
By Brian Hews
Performer Davis Gaines is one happy man this time of year.
Not only is he the mega Broadway superstar getting ready for a two day performance at the Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts right after Christmas with International Ice Skating Champion Ekaterina Gordeava, he is also getting ready for his beloved Florida State Semioles to compete in the BCS Championship Game in Pasadena on January 5.
“It doesn’t get any better than this, as far as I am concerned,” Gaines told Hews Media Group-Community Newspaper in an interview on Wednesday.
Gaines is currently visiting family and lifelong friends in his native home located in Orlando, Florida for the next week, and will be on a plane travelling back to his current residence in Hollywood in time to attend both events.
Gaines will be making his first performance in five years at the well-known Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts with Gordeava for three shows as they host “Broadway on Ice.” The shows will take place on Friday, December 27th and Saturday, December 28th.
“Playing at the Cerritos Center is always a great experience,” Gaines said. “It is the perfect sized theater. Not to small and not to large. It is very intimate.” During his last stint at the CCPA Gaines played opposite another Olympic champion Dorothy Hamil.
Gaines was born and raised in Orlando and says most of his family live in and around Central Florida. He said he knew at an early age that he wanted to be a performer and broke into the business portraying several different characters at Walt Disney World during his late teens, including the Fox from the movie Pinocchio. “It was a blast; I played the Fox from Pinocchio and other characters back then, and today I look back with great memories from that time in my life,” Gaines said.
Gaines has kept his close ties to Orlando, even though he now lives near the famed Hollywood Bowl in Hollywood. For the past several years he has been an active Director of the Orlando Performing Arts Center. Gaines pointed out in the interview with HMG-CN that the facilities were built by the same architect.
“Now a days, it is very hard and difficult to fill 2,400 and 2,700 seat theaters on a regular basis,” Gaines said about the challenges local performing arts centers are facing all over the United States.
Gaines said he has been “lucky” to have such a “busy and successful career.”
“I have been lucky, and I have been blessed to be able to have the greatest job in the world, that of being a performer and someone who is still looking forward to the future,” he said.
Gaines said he has had “dream roles” including playing Don Quitox, and a “fun role” in Kiss Me Kate.
Gaines said that he is also active at his alma mater, Florida State University and is extremely excited about their upcoming performance in the BCS Game in January against rival Auburn. He said he was at the FSU campus last week when quarterback James Winston won the Heisman Trophy, “it was an exciting time to be at Florida State!”
Gaines also oversees the “Davis Gaines Endowment Scholarship” at Florida State University, a cause “near and dear to my heart.” “I need to give back for all of the amazing things that have happened in my life,” he said. Gaines will be performing with FSU’s “Marching Chiefs” at a special concert at the Segestrom Theater for the Performing Arts on January 4th. Tickets to see him and the FSU Marching Band are on sale for $10 at the Segerstrom.
As far as his performances at the CCPA, Gaines said that he has not met co-performer Ekaterina Gordeava. “We are going to meet for the first time the day after Christmas. I will just need to stay out of her way and the show will be a hit,” Gaines joked.
“It is a beautiful setting in Cerritos. It will make for dramatic shows,” Gaines said. He said that he is planning to perform some of his biggest hits and all time “standards” including “The Moment,” “Bring Him Home,” from Les Miserable, and tunes from the Broadway hit “Chicago.”
The performances at the CCPA will also feature 20 to 30 additional professional ice skaters and dances including singer Ira Lauren.
Gaines also said that breaking into show business in Hollywood and New York is still very difficult, and was also critical of live performing talent shows on broadcast television such as “The Voice” and “American Idol.” “I can’t stand them, these singing shows do more harm than good,” Gaines said.
So would the gifted Baritone ever consider doing “Dancing with the Stars” in the future? “Are you kidding me, no way, I have no interest and besides I am a really lousy dancer,” he chuckled.
For more information, visit www.davisgaines.com and www.facebook.com/DavisGainesActor. For tickets to see “Broadway on Ice” at the Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts visit www.cerritoscenter.com, or stop by the CCPA Box Office at 12700 Center Court Drive, Cerritos.
