The Golddiggers of Dean Martin & Frank Sinatra Tour
The Golddiggers of the Rat Pack tour
Pictured clockwise from the bottom: Maria (Alberici) Lauren, Peggy Gohl, Joyce Garro, Patti Gribow, Linda (Alberici) Eichberg, Robyn Whatley
What a ride it was to entertain with Legendary Stars in The Golddiggers and then years later, perform their songs and share some stories about working with these Stars to an eager audience in “Showstoppers.” Of course, during our show, we pay tribute to the King of Cool, Dean Martin, and the Chairman of the Board, Frank Sinatra. Our tour with them was the highlight of our showbiz journey but touring with Bob Hope, Louie Prima, and many other notable stars was a blast too! Looking back, I realize how fortunate we were to share in this historical time in entertainment.
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A more recent highlight was when we performed as The Golddiggers in a celebration to honor our mentor Lee Hale at the Annual Dancer’s Society in Beverly Hills in 2003. Lee Hale was The Golddiggers musical director and a producer of the Dean Martin TV Comedy Hour. Entertaining as The Golddiggers in the presence of Lee, Greg Garrison, Executive Producer of Dean’s TV shows and a star-studded audience, including Dom DeLuise, Mitzie Gaynor, Lainie Kazan … was an extreme pleasure for me and my “Golddigger sisters!”
Pictured below are the Alberici Sisters and Lainie Kazan at the Hollywood Show reminiscing about times performing on the Dean Martin Show.
The Golddiggers of the Rat Pack tour – The Alberici Sisters with Lainie Kazan
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Throughout this decade, many of my talented girlfriends who shared in the sisterhood of The Golddiggers have joined their performance skills in SHOWSTOPPERS to the standing ovation of thousands. It’s a special time when we get together!
Pictured below from left to right are Peggy Gohl, Robyn Whatley – Kahn, Lee Hale, Marie Halton – Peck, Alberici Sisters: Maria Lauren & Linda Eichberg, Linda Bott.
Producer, Lee Hale backstage with The Golddiggers of “SHOWSTOPPERS!”
You may think that being called a “Gold Digger” might be insulting but not when I am singing and dancing with the members of The Golddiggers with whom I performed. Entertaining with some of these ladies within the span of 1973 to 2005 has offered me a wide view of life and show business. During this time, Las Vegas news reporters began calling us, “The show-stopping Golddiggers.” Later, a new generation of fans began calling us, “The Rat Pack Golddiggers.” The nicknames stuck with us.
A variety of TV/stage clips included The Golddiggers who toured with Frank Sinatra & Dean Martin on a past Mike Douglas TV Show and some of the ladies with whom I performed giving a tribute to Lee Hale. Don’t forget to check out the YouTube comments from The former Golddiggers too! The video starts with performing artist, Marianna Riccio (daughter) and me being interviewed on the Patti Gribow TV Show.
The rich experiences of singing and dancing in The Golddiggers, prompted my sister, Linda Eichberg, and I (Alberici Sisters) to author a book called, BEYOND OUR WILDEST DREAMS, available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble, online. Good values are gold even while entertaining with the ‘Icons of the 20th Century’ including the Rat Pack!
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I’m grateful for the blessings of a big family and good friends that keep me grounded. A big thank you to TV Producer, Lee Hale and The former Golddiggers for your comments!
Maria Lauren, a.k.a. Maria Elena Alberici
Your Powerful Life Blog
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Websites/Links:
Book preview about iconic showbiz legends:
More about Lee Hale:
Times with Lee Hale, Dean Martin Show Musical Director
My website:
- Keynote Speakers
- Entertainers
- Book Signings
YourPowerfulLIFE Blog 
Dear lovely Dean Martin Golddiggers!
We’re gonna travel to the USA in March for the very first time in our life – and it’s our honeymoon, too.
Are you planning a Showstoppers Concert in the second half of March somewhere in L. A. or Las Vegas?
Best wishes Marion Klabes-Hesse & Carsten Hesse from Germany 🙂
Congratulations on your honeymoon plans and thank you for reaching out to us. At this time, we don’t have a performance planned but if something comes up we will post it on this blog. Blessings to the both of you and your future together. 🙂
Dear Maria,
thanks a lot for your answer. And the great and rare pictures on your website and on facebook.
We are big, big fans of Dean Martin and we’re gonna visit his last home, his favourite restaurants and his grave on our first trip to the USA.
And – of course – I MUST have your great book. Can I find it in a store in L.A.?
But it would be the greatest for us, if we could meet you somewhere in the City for a coffee, an autograph in your book and a little talking about Dino.
I sang a lot of his songs in my own shows in Germany, but unfortunately I’ve never seen him in person.
We hope to hear from you again, greetings from Europe
Carsten & Marion
Hi Carsten & Marion,
It’s always nice to meet a Dean Martin fan and fellow singer. BTW: Our book is selling on Amazon.
Are you on Facebook? You can private message us on our book page, Beyond Our Wildest Dreams, with the date of your arrival in Los Angeles etc…
God bless and Bon Voyage!
Maria
Dear Maria,
we really hope to hear from you, and we’ve contacted you on FB, too.
That would be SO great for us….
Greetings from Europe; we’re gonna fly over the ocean on Sunday!
Bon voyage! We can continue communications through Facebook.
Blessings!
I’ve been surfing on-line more than 3 hours nowadays, but I by no means discovered any interesting article like yours.
Personally, if all website owners and bloggers made excellent content material as you did, the internet would likely be much more useful than ever before.
Thank you for your comment. It is positive feedback like yours that keeps me writing my blog each month. Believe me, sometimes its a challenge to find the time to write but I feel a responsibility to share life’s blessings of the present and the past…
May blessings of a powerful life shine on you and your loved ones.
And may you, your sisters and The Showstoppers ALSO have a blessed Holiday Season.
With Thanksgiving + Christmas + New Year 2011 on the horizon, let’s all hope for the best.
Cheers from Ralph!
Thanks Ralph and the same to you. We still have many blessings to look forward too!
Hello, Maria. Just discovered your blog tonight, and I remember sending an email to you when I was searching for Golddiggers. I printed your brief reply but misplaced it since then. All’s not lost, tho…your fellow Golddiggers are here with their own letters, and I’ll take this moment to invite all of you – plus Shirley and Dean, too! – to visit my own WordPress blog titled “Wanted – The Dean Martin Show!”. It’s approx. 1/3rd complete but growing in bits at a time. ‘Showstoppers’ is in the pipeline, coming after New Year’s Day.
At http://draaiorgelfan.wordpress.com we’re hoping to get The Dean Martin show out of Garrison’s vaults and into the public domain. P.S., on ‘About Me’ I’ll have a better photo on Christmas Day. Thanks and cheers from Ralph Baker!
Welcome Ralph! It’s always a pleasure to hear from a fan of Dean Martin and The Golddiggers. Since you are dedicating your Blog to that history, I’ve included some trivia about the ladies who have answered my Blog and left messages on the link entitled, Dean Martin: Memories of The Golddiggers, found at the top of the page. These amazing ladies have performed with me in The Golddiggers within three decades, which spanned within the years 1973 till 2003. Did you know? …
• Some of these talented ladies have performed with me in The Golddiggers on countless episodes of the Dean Martin TV Comedy Hour and Dean Martin TV Specials.
• Performing as Dean’s opening act, starting at the grand opening of the MGM in Las Vegas in the 70’s until the Bally’s years through the 80’s was the best time ever!
• Many of us have never stopped performing as soloists and as a group. Our group continues to perform today, paying tribute to the legends that we co-starred with in “Showstoppers” starring former Dean Martin Golddiggers.
• There were three sisters, the Alberici Sisters (my maiden name) who were a part of The Golddiggers during the late 70’s.
You can find out more information and pictures on my Site at: http://www.marialauren.com/
Have a Blessed Holiday season!
Maria
Your ‘Showstoppers’ performance was well received and was the best show we have had at The New York Club. It had class, excellent singing, interspersed with humor. We look forward to seeing you again.
Sincerely,
Shirley & Walt Greenes
Thanks! Your club was a great audience! Linda Eichberg, Peggy Gohl and I were happy to perform for you. We enjoyed having former Golddigger Marie Peck, join us for the audience participation too!
I love bringing back the kind of entertainment that was part of The Rat Pack era. I’m glad we could bring the glamour of Vegas to you.
God bless,
Maria Lauren
Dear Maria,
I so enjoyed viewing the video clip (You Tube) of your May 13, 2007 Mother’s Day production of “Showstoppers” at the Palmdale Playhouse. The clip brought back great memories of the performance that featured Dean Martin’s Golddiggers which included you, your sister Linda and Peggy Gohl. Steve Apple as Dean Martin was also great fun. The addition of your daughter Marianna’s great singing and dancing was a perfect fit. I know the performance was a special treat for your mother who was in the audience. I hope you do a similar show soon.
Dean
Dean, it’s nice to hear from you. Like Dean Martin, you’re also a great man in your own line of work … a college professor! Thank you for your encouraging words of praise for my daughter’s, guest performances in “Showstoppers.”
Since then, Marianna has graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Theater at California State University, Northridge. Presently, she enjoys writing songs for recording and TV artists.
My mom has just turned 80 years old! Singing keeps her young.
God bless you,
Maria
Dear Maria and my ‘Golddigger’ sisters:
One of my favorite memories is when we performed on the “Rat Pack Tour” with Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra, singing before an audience of 7,000. So exciting with the TV cameras a whirling as it was to be a Greg Garrison /TV special. Dean and I were standing together and Frank walked up. He said how beautiful, talented and professional we Golddiggers were and asked Dean if he could have us as “his” girls. Dean took a moment, and said, “you can look at them, listen to them, but if you take a look at my marquee…it says Dean Martin and the Golddiggers”…. And that’s how it stayed.
I had the pleasure of entertaining over 1,000,000 people on 840+ shows with him in Las Vegas. He was the epitome of debonair, cool, and a legendary performer and craftsman. Dean joked, “It’s in my contract…one drop of sweat and I get to walk”.
I was very blessed to have experienced a truly “golden” time with Dean Martin and The Golddiggers.
Love,
Robyn
Yes, Robyn … we were blessed to have shared these “golden” experiences with each other and Dean. The picture at the top of this page was taken about the same time as our Sinatra & Martin tour… a tour of a lifetime!
I remember precious moments… when my daughter, Marianna was about three years old and she watched our show from the sidelines in Las Vegas. One day to my surprise, she pointed to Dean’s picture on The Bally’s marquee and said, “Dean Martin!” It was so cute!
As time marches on, it was sweet for her to perform in “Showstoppers” with her “Golddigger Auntie’s” encouraging her. Getting together to perform after all these years has been a gift. Robyn, your classical solo during our last show was outstanding!
I miss you, my friend,
Maria
Singing and dancing along side of Dean Martin with the Golddiggers are some of my fondest memories. I have made lifetime friendships with my stage sisters with whom I am still very close. Marie Halton, Peggy Gohl, Linda Eichberg, Patti Gribow, Robyn Whatley, Joyce Garro and, of course you, Maria Lauren.
How wonderful to work with such talent. As I watched Dean throughout my eight years as one of the Golddiggers I marveled at how he was a mentor, a father, a husband, a crooner, a consummate pro…and the classiest of stars we ever worked with!
I think of Dean and you in the many events that shaped my life both professionally and personally. These will always be treasured memories.
Linda Snook Bott
(Golddiggers-1977-1982 and 1989-1991)
Dean was a “class act” for sure! Being a part of Dean’s last shows in Vegas was bittersweet. Entertaining with Dean was so wonderful we never wanted it to end!! That’s why it was so special to get together again in “Showstoppers.” Your rendition of Dean’s song, “Your Nobody till Somebody Loves You” was a real crowd pleaser!
Linda, remember sharing our performance as The Golddiggers in 2003, for a star studded event? Executive Producer of the Dean Martin TV shows, Greg Garrison attended as we honored Lee Hale our musical director. Lee also produced Dean’s TV shows and TV speicals. Lee was such a blessing to us all!!!
Hugs Maria
I always knew you were going to find fame and fortune Linda…congratulations on your career path…I can’t imagine how cool it would have been to meet and interact with Dean Martin. The closest I will get is sharing his last name…LOL. YOU GO GIRL!
It was so much fun to sing and dance in The Golddigger reunion performances of ‘Showstoppers.’
Those performances always bring forth fond memories of Dean Martin, a very caring man, who went out of his way to be supportive and friendly.
Once, when I was performing with Dean and the ‘Diggers’ in Las Vegas. I had to have emergency surgery. My mom and my husband Steve flew in to stay with me in Vegas while I recuperated. Dean surprised them by paying for their hotel bills. He was a very kind man, the best.
Lots of Love, Linda
Thanks Linda, for sharing your story about Dean Martin’s generosity. What I loved most about Dean was his fun loving nature.
Remember when we opened for Dean in Vegas and he would write something funny to Jerry on his dressing room mirror? Jerry would read it, and write something funny back to him. Dean would chuckle as he let us in on the joke. This was right before their TV reunion on Jerry’s Telethon!
Isn’t it a coincidence that 2009 has given Jerry Lewis the honor of an Oscar Humanitarian Award and Dean Martin with a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award? … Their partners again!!
Thinking about it makes me smile!
Maria
Hello my Golddigger “seesters” and hi to anyone else who’s interested. Many of you know that in addition to having performed recently in reunion shows of Maria’s production called, “Showstoppers” that I still perform throughout Southern California, and much of my own show is packed with stories of my Dean Martin Golddigger years. I’m sure it’s due to my long working relationship with Dean that I am still working! As a matter of fact, my business cards say “Dean Martin’s Original Olddigger.”
As others have noted, Dean was full of charm, but one night before a show Dean surprised each of us, “Golddiggers” with an initial gold and diamond charm. I treasure my “P” given by Dean personally; a charm from the greatest charmer of all!
I have so many more memories from my 17 consecutive years in working with Dean I’d like to share, but the more heartfelt is that of attending Dean Paul’s memorial service. Seated among the attendees were Frank and Sammy. As I looked across the lawn I noticed Jerry Lewis coming over with his head down. To my amazement Dean pulled himself together and 10 days later we were back to work in Vegas. Dean received standing ovations. The tabloids all said how Dean fell apart following Dean Paul’s death, but all I recall is Dean’s hard work and dedication to his family and fans – it’s what Dean Paul would have wanted.
In the last years of working with Dean, I once stood in the wings next to Cary Grant (who introduced the Golddiggers at times), and noticed Jeannie (Dean’s wife) and Dean’s children chuckling in the audience as Dean impersonated Cary (who loved it as well). These are just a few of my memories. Let’s keep sharing.
Love,
Peg
Peggy, it’s a thrill to still be performing together in “Showstoppers.” You’re a gifted comedian and singer! Yes, our audiences can’t get enough of the stories we tell about Dean and our portrayal of those glamorous days in Vegas and TV. It’s a fun trip down memory lane!
Love you, my friend,
Maria
LOVED the videos and thank you so much for your special remarks about me, of all people. Such good times we all had. Weren’t rehearsals fun? I always loved putting a new number together, seeing what I put on a music sheet come to life – teaching the music to you and then watching the choreographer stage it all. I used to come home VERY satisfied with myself – and all of you!
Thanks again.
Lee
Dear Lee:
Thank you for the gift of your creative genuis! You were, and still are, our mentor.
I always looked forward to your musical innovations and considered it a privilege to perform them both on stage and TV. Thank you for making ‘The Golddiggers’ into the ‘Showstoppers’ we are today!
With Love and Respect,
Maria