Petula Travellers

“ If I  can make it there, I  can make it anywhere!–”. It was actually Frank Sinatra, not Petula  Clark,  who popularized this tribute to New York.  Petula had already  “made it” in New York decades before Sinatra had a hit with the song.. The catalyst for her success there and all across North America had been her mega hit Downtown which Tony Hatch had written for her as its own homage to the city. The success of that song and her other Hatch composed hits led to her  performing to gushing reviews and sold out audiences at the Copacabana in the 60’s and the Waldorf Astoria in the 70’s.

Two decades  later  Petula returned to star on  Broadway  in Willy Russell’s Blood Brothers.—She actually is credited with rescuing the show from closing at the Music Box Theatre. The play had run successfully on London’s West End for years but did not succeed in New York, until Petula took on the lead role of Mrs. Johnson.  During her Broadway stay, Variety reviewer Jerome Weeks praised Petula , “Clark is a revelation. Hers was among the finest female pop voices Britain produced in the ’60s, and it remains an astonishing instrument: beautiful, powerful, pure.”

In later years, Petula’s rendition of “Tell Me It’s Not True” from Blood Brothers,which she  included for a time  in her live concert performances, often brought audiences to their feet –because the delivery was as Weeks had indicated so “beautiful, powerful and “pure”!

Unfortunately my husband and I did not get to see Petula perform in New York until long after her Blood Brothers run.  It was not until 2012 when we ventured in January to New York to see her intimate supper club run at Feinstein’s at Lowe’s Regency in New York.She had had been originally scheduled for a week but due to its popularity her show was extended by a week.

Rex Reed, the renowned New York entertainment critic  had a glowing review of Petula’s sold out performances:

Rhythm and bounce, tempo and pounce. Petula Clark has lost none of her fizz. Her warm, engaging new act at Feinstein’s at Loew’s Regency is the first time she’s appeared in a New York nightclub since the dear, departed and much-lamented days of the Waldorf-Astoria’s Empire Room. That was 1975… 

The night I saw her, the sellout crowd applauded “Don’t Sleep in the Subway” two bars into the intro. Top 40 chartbusters and platinum hits Tony Hatch wrote for her years ago like “Who Am I?,” “Color My Love,” “I Couldn’t Live Without Your Love” and “I Know a Place” turned the room into pure pandemonium. Then, to soften the pace, she saluted Cole Porter and the Great American Songbook with “I Concentrate on You,” talked candidly about the first time she saw Edith Piaf at the Olympia in Paris and played competent piano on a sweet remembrance of the chanteuse populaire with a touching “La vie en Rose,” and as she shared a taste of Gershwin on “Someone to Watch Over Me” and “The Man I Love.” 

For this trip, my husband and I had chosen to stay at Lowe’s Regency where Feinstein’s was situated . The Upper East Side location was more tranquil than other places we had stayed while visiting New York. It was an easy walk to Central Park and the weather was quite mild for the end of January which made being outdoors quite  pleasant. Of course,we still managed to visit the usual tourist sights: Times Square , Broadway, Fifth Avenue. We took in a matinee performance of  “Sister Act”  which  was a big hit at that time at the Broadway Theatre. The show  was light and humorous with lots of up- tempo songs . It was a very enjoyable addition to the trip.

But, without a doubt, the highlight of this New York visit was the opportunity to see Petula perform twice at Feinstein’s. The cabaret-style venue instantly reminded us of the Imperial Room at Toronto’s Royal York—the only other supper club where we had seen Petula perform years earlier. That same sense of intimacy prevailed. At the dinner performance we attended, we were literally just a few feet from Petula’s small, raised platform of a stage. The room itself was elegant and posh in an old-school sort of way. Two days later, we returned for the later, non-dinner show. Though our seats were farther back, the closeness of the experience remained. For my husband and I—who have spent our adult lives loving Petula Clark’s music—the Feinstein’s performances stand out as one of our most cherished “Petula Adventures”.

Six years later we returned to New York on November 6, 2018 as part of a longer journey through the US following Petula in concert. This time, it was to see her perform at Sony Hall which is right in the theatre district close to Times Square. The venue is intimate but with a more modern decor  than Feinstein’s –the table seating made the pre- performance ambiance lively with patrons filing in to join friends or sometimes it seemed unknown people with whom they were sharing a table. My husband and I had managed a table for two at the very front left  beside the stage. The set list was similar to that of other performances on this “Living For Today “ tour. The title song was one the audience favored . Two of my favorites were Petula’s beautiful rendition of Steve Winwood’s “If You See  A Chance” and her rousing rendition of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Don’t Cry For Me Argentina”. The crowd was very exuberant and Petula received several standing ovations, even during the performance, as well as, of course, at the end.

We stayed only a few days in New York on this visit, as we were heading to Providence, Rhode Island by train to see Petula again—this time on November 9 in Cranston. Our hotel in New York near Penn Station gave us easy access to the train, and we still managed to catch a preview performance of the musical CHER at the Neil Simon Theatre. The show was very well done , featuring an enjoyable selection of Cher’s songs and multiple actresses portraying her at different stages of her career.

From Providence, we took a side trip by train to Boston to meet up with our eldest grandkids for lunch—a lovely addition  that made  another unforgettable “Petula Adventure” even more special.