Review: Johnny Mathis at Foxwoods Resort Casino

The first thing I noticed when I walked into the Fox Theatre last night to see Johnny Mathis perform is that the stage was set up for an orchestra. Not a trio, not a band, an honest to goodness orchestra.

As the musicians filed in, I counted 26. I might be wrong..but I think 26. 8 violins. A terrific horn section and a harp. Who sings with a full orchestra anymore, unless they are singing specifically with a symphony?

With little fanfare, out strolled Johnny Mathis. Looking impossibly young in a relaxed linen suit, shirt and tie, he looked just as he always has, boyish, handsome and classy. How is it possible that Johnny Mathis has been recording for over fifty years and is still boyish? I don't know..but he does.

He opened with "In the Morning" which was written by Barry Gibb in 1966. He started to sing and.... that voice. The voice that we have all heard. The voice that my generation first heard on our grandparents hi-fi. It brought me right back. Johnny treats his voice as an instrument. More and less than a "performer" or "entertainer" he is a "singer" He does not interject himself into a song. He sings a song as arranged. There are not lots of singers who can do ( or did ) that. Ella Fitzgerald did it. Linda Eder does it. They sing. Johnny did it last night. His voice wrapped around the notes in a clear, jewel-toned sound. It was truly magical.

Johnny sang, and sang, and sang and sang. With hardly a breath in between songs Johnny got all of the songs that his audience was hoping he would sing, sung. Each note, each phrase, each breath was spot-on perfect. No Kidding. He sang "Its Not for Me to Say", "Chances Are" and "Its all in the Game"

He sang a rendition of Don McLean's "Vincent" which is better known as "Starry, Starry, Night" that was achingly beautiful. Johnny, somewhat bashfully, got a folder with the sheet music from his musical director before he started to sing. He explained that he had just started singing the song, and that "it is so beautiful, that I don't want to risk messing up the words." The screens on either side of the stage showed a montage of Vincent Van Gogh's "Starry Night" paintings, among others including the widely recognized Van Gogh "Self-Portrait" The audience hardly had time to process what they had just heard before he segued into "Misty".

Ya know when you go see a musician or a piece of musical theater and there is that moment when the chills come up your spine? With a little luck the chills radiate right up your neck and down to your elbows. I feel lucky if that happens once during a performance. When Johnny sang "Misty" my nerve endings were going nuts. Wave after wave of pure joy.

Johnny travels with 5 or 6 people. 3 musicians, a personal assistant, a lighting director and a sound director. His sound director, whose name I am sure to misspell, is Lee Richter. I point him out here and now because that sound that he created in the Fox Theater was unmatched. The sound that came from the orchestra that played behind Johnny was perfect. They never once over-played or drown him out, the sound was at once intimate and powerful. There were a couple of unfortunate squeals of feedback here and there...but overall the sound was exactly what it should be. Johnny closed his first of two, forty-minute sets with "Too Young"

He then introduced Gary Mule Deer, who strolled out on the stage, dressed in black and carrying a guitar. He did 20 minutes of old-chestnut jokes, that were delivered cleverly. No cutting-edge material...but really,funny old-style one-line set up, next line, punch line jokes. He closed by thanking the audience and saying that he had the "best job in the world. Who else gets to have Johnny Mathis open and close for them?"

Johnny came back out, dressed in a white turtleneck, linen slack and a navy blue, double-breasted blazer with brass buttons. Class.

Once again, he sang and sang. Opening his second set with "Strangers in the Night" and flowing through another dozen or so songs.

He closed the show with a rousing rendition of "Let the Good Times Roll". You can keep tagging verses on to that song, and Johnny did, putting two additional endings onto it.

Johnny Mathis was a "sure bet" last night for his appreciative audience.

www.foxwoods.com

 

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