Nancy Sinatra shares family history and career highlights during Plaza Theatre fundraiser

The Plaza Theatre in Palm Springs hosted its first event in six years on Sunday.

Nancy Sinatra, her daughters A.J. Lambert and Amanda Erlinger, former Palm Springs city council member J.R. Roberts, actor and singer James Darren and Wrecking Crew member Don Randi took part in a fundraiser to restore the theater.

The sold-out event was part of Modernism Week.

After Roberts introduced the 79-year old Sinatra, she broke down and cried during a standing ovation from the 800 people in attendance.

The two-hour-long program started with Sinatra, Lambert, Erlinger and Roberts viewing a clip of Sinatra's 1967 television special, "Movin' With Nancy," showing her driving a convertible through a field and getting into a hot air balloon.

They shared family photos of Sinatra and her daughters with her father, Frank Sinatra, in his Rancho Mirage home — the images spanned the crooner sitting at his bar with giant containers of various snacks and swimming in the pool, as well as Erlinger watching "Jeopardy" with her grandfather.

More clips from the "Movin' With Nancy" special were played. Nancy Sinatra mentioned they were early music videos. One video, "Who Will Buy?" was filmed at Pacific Ocean Park and included footage of Frank standing atop the Sea Serpent Roller Coaster. Nancy said she actually had to climb atop of the roller coaster for the shot.

"They didn't care about my life," she said. "I had one crew member in front of me and one crew member below me, so I wasn't totally alone. I was scared to death and it was really high."

The audience also saw footage from the previously unreleased 1973 special, "Movin' with Nancy Nice n' Easy." Nancy collaborated with Muppets creator and puppeteer Jim Henson to perform Carole King's "I Feel The Earth Move" with two 20-foot high puppets.

In 2005, Sinatra explained on her website why it was never released.

"It’s a shame we couldn’t finish it (due to lack of funding) because it would have been a good show," Sinatra wrote. "What we have of it is more a collection of what would now be called music videos. They are still entertaining and fun — especially the Muppets segments.”

She credited her late husband, producer Hugh Lambert, for having the idea to work with Henson and taking her to Henson's Muppet Workshop in New York City.

"We had never heard of the Muppets," Sinatra said. "We walked into this building and there were creatures hanging from the ceiling. (Lambert) said, 'We need to put them on stage.'"

While there was talk of its potential release, there are legal reasons that prevent it.

"Jim Henson actually gave me all of that footage and said, 'This is only for you and I'll never use it again. It's yours.' But there's no paper that's signed and there's nothing that can cement that as fact. We couldn't just arbitrarily put it out," Sinatra said.

After a brief intermission toward the end of the evening, Lambert sang three songs backed by Randi on piano, guitarist Jon Depatie and fiddle player Bobby Furgo.

In a surprise twist, Sinatra walked out on stage and performed "Bang Bang" as well as her 1966 hit "Boots."

"I was shocked when she sang," Roberts said. "There was no guarantee she was going to do it."

During rehearsals on Saturday, Sinatra sat backstage with Erlinger and Roberts and said she remembered seeing many movies at the Plaza Theatre, starting at age four.

"We're fighting like hell to keep the culture of the original city alive," Sinatra said on saturday. "It's not just this theater, it's this whole area and series of shops with the overhang."

So far, Roberts said the restoration efforts have raised more than $500,000 toward the goal of $10 to $12 million.

"We have a long way to go," he told the audience.

Desert Sun reporter Brian Blueskye covers arts and entertainment. He can be reached at brian.blueskye@desertsun.com or (760) 778-4617. Support local news, subscribe to The Desert Sun.