MOUNT VERNON — Philip “David” Dial’s life has come full circle. After almost 50 years, he will once again perform in his hometown of Mount Vernon on June 15 at 8 p.m. at the Woodward Opera House.
Dial will be performing his show “Legendary Ladies of Hollywood” alongside his wife Toni Morrell, the star of the show. The evening will be dedicated to his late parents, Phil and Betty Dial, life-long residents of Mount Vernon.
The show celebrates, and keeps the memories alive of, the trailblazing ladies of entertainment from the mid-1950s through the 1980s, some David and Toni knew personally. Included is some never-before-heard stories from behind the dressing room doors. The show will appeal to the Baby Boomers, stimulating memories, and to the younger generations as an educational, and entertaining, way of seeing these past stars of entertainment.
Dial’s last performance in his hometown was with Mount Vernon High School’s jazz ensemble the Mellow Jackets.
Dial graduated from Mount Vernon High School in 1966. He found his love for music at a young age, discovering the piano at the age of 5 and trombone at the age of 12. Throughout high school, he was involved in concert and marching band, as well as the Mellow Jackets. It was there Dial found inspiration.
“I was really inspired by our director, Bob Bechtel, as well as legendary fellow-trombonist and now renowned band-leader, Vaughn Wiester, (who was in his senior year at the time),” Dial recalled.
He spent most days after school and on the weekends working part-time at the local music store, Colonial Music, and playing the Farfisa Organ in The Colonials, a local rock-n-roll band and a favorite at “sock hops.”
There, he changed his name to David Dial and enjoyed a successful career in the music business. He worked with such luminaries as Burt Bacharach, James Darren, Carol Channing, et al. as well as provided musical services to a host of established singers, musicians, comedians, actors and musical productions.
It was in 1996 that he met British singer-entertainer Toni Morell, whom he married in 1999, when she hired him to accompany her at the legendary Cinegrill in the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel.
Together, along with noted Celebrity TV Producer and Director, Karen G. Cadle, they produced a new concert celebrating the legendary ladies of show business under the title “Remembering The Ladies.” The show soon became a favorite of celebrities, with many legends attending. Shirley Jones (of “The Partridge Family”) proclaimed it to be “one of the greatest nights of theater I have ever seen.” The show would run until June 2014, having a final performance at the Colony Theatre in Burbank.
Dial was diagnosed with stage 4 inoperable throat cancer the next week, ending the touring and gigs that were lined up. With help from his wife, Toni, and his Christian faith, Dial made a complete recovery and is now five years cancer-free.
With his strength renewed, the couple would revamp the show and perform it once again. Encouraged by his oncologist to lessen stress, Dial found a house for sale in Knox County.
In November 2018, at the age of 70, Dial and his wife returned “home again” to Ohio, reuniting with his sister, Connie Cline, family and friends.
Shortly after moving, the restoration of the historic “Woodward Opera House” in Mount Vernon caught the couple’s attention. They met with Theater Director, Danny Gum, and the rest, as they say, is history.
“We couldn’t be happier,” Dial said. “Ohio is so beautiful!”
More information about the show can be found at LegendaryLadiesOfHollywood.com. Tickets at be purchased at TheWoodward.com.
