Petula Clark Delights 10,000 at Arts Center

by Marilyn Nason, The Post-Star, July 15, 1969

Sings Up a Storm!

Pet really sings up a storm! Petula Clark, that is, and she absolutely entranced an audience of more than 10,000 in concert last night at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center for more than two solid hours.

And what a one-woman show she is. Even though backed by a 24-piece orchestra, largely composed of members of the New York City Ballet Orchestra, it’s all Petula.

“Call me Pet,” she suggested in her pixie fashion in the midst of a delightful parody on her name, called appropriately enough, “My Name’s Petula.” In this, she described how her name is pronounced or rather mispronounced in many countries and how they expect her to sing. This ran the global gamut from Germany to Italy, France and America.

But perhaps the outstanding aspects of a Petula Clark concert is the fact that it is all Petula and does she work. She has the most powerful, yet pleasant and true voice imaginable, roams all over the stage and holds a note long enough to be the envy of any Met diva.

She satisfied the mammoth, appreciative crowd, giving them all the hits she has made famous around the globe, from “Downtown” and “Yesterday” to “Just Say Goodbye,” *Who Am I?” and “I Want to Hold Your Hand.” Especially interesting was her version of the familiar and lovely “Funny Valentine,” backed only by the strings.

A delightful medley from “My Fair Lady,” which seems to be everybody’s favorite from school productions to nightclub entertainers, was done after Miss Clark spoke with affection of her childhood friend, Julie Andrews. She also sang “How Are Things In Glocomorra,” from her movie musical, “Finian’s Rainbow,” and gave American audiences a preview of her latest film effort, “Goodbye, Mr. Chips,” slated for U.S. release in November. From this, she sang a pretty love song, “You And I.”

And just to show she’s not only a sensational singer, a very lovely girl (and equally lovely and friendly backstage, too) and a hard-working performer, Miss Clark offered one of her own compositions, “Two Rivers,” which she sang while accompanying herself on the piano.

For the benefit of the ladies, Miss Clark wore two English creations. The first was a stunning bright red crepe gown with red sequin top and black crepe long coat, caught at the neck with rhinestone frog closures. The second was a pale blue crepe with rhinestone criss-cross spaghetti straps and a diamond-shaped hemline outlined with more sequins. Over this, she wore a full blue jacquard brocade long-sleeved coat. Both outfits received an herculean workout from the vivacious Miss Clark and the audience loved every minute of it.

The fact that she returned for two bows to a standing ovation but did not give an encore is not difficult to understand, considering she had worked for two hours solidly, and, as she said at one point, “My dears, you paid your money and you’re going to get the full tilt.” And the 10,000 there certainly did last night, making this first special event for the fourth season of SPAC one of the very finest of the entire four-year history of the amphitheatre.