Liberace Draws 11,000 at SPAC
by Don A. Metivier, The Post-Star, August 14, 1973
Whomever labeled Liberace “Mr. Showmanship” really knew wherefore he spoke.
The popular entertainer played two shows Sunday at Saratoga Performing Arts Center, attracting more than 11,000 fans.
Featuring an amazing singing poet, Steve DePass, and the Doublemint commercial stars, The Acker Twins, the Liberace Show moved at a rapid pace for three hours.
Unlike many of the “Stars” who appear at Spa specials, Liberace was on stage for nearly the entire show.
He only left to change from one outlandish costume to another.
“They are so exciting I can hardly wait to see them myself,” he told the large audience, which responded with applause at his every line.
Liberace didn’t neglect the piano, playing a tribute to composer George Gershwin’s 75th birthday, a medley of Chopin and his famed classical version of “Three Little Fishies.”
Backed by a 21-piece orchestra, and his new musical director, Bo Ayars, Liberace played, sang, danced, snapped off his one-liners, and thoroughly charmed the audience for the entire three hours.
He works hard, plays well and is the total entertainer, especially to those persons who turn out in large numbers to see as much as hear him.
DePass, who is to be a regular on the Mike Douglas TV show, is one of those persons who exhibit so much talent you have to wonder where he’s been hiding.
The Liberace Show is definitely one of SPAC’s better specials of the season.
Saturday evening Miss Susan Starr appeared with the Philadelphia Orchestra and Maestro Eugene Ormandy to steal the show with her playing of Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano Concerto.
Making her Saratoga debut, the young American pianist strode onto the big Spa stage with a determined look, sat down and attacked the piano with a verve that brought the big audience to its feet at the conclusion of the concerto.
While her playing may not yet approach the technical precision shown by some of the older, more experienced soloists heard at the Spa this summer, her enthusiasm and freshness delighted the Saturday night crowd of nearly 5,000.
The Saratoga-Potsdam chorus opened the evening with the Orchestra, performing three Russian songs by Rachmaninoff. The big chorus, conducted by Brock McElheran, was shown at its best and was also much appreciated by the audience.
Miss Starr, whose father Isadore Schwartz is a member of the first violin section of the Orchestra and a horse-owner of Saratoga note, made her debut playing a very familiar selection, but still managed to score very high marks with both the critics and the audience.
Following her spectacular performance, the evening’s finale, Rachmaninoff’s choral symphony, “The Bells,” was overshadowed!
Recent Comments