Images of black and white photos twist and turn on a large screen high above the stage as the audience fills the theater at Stockton Performing Arts Center on Saturday, Sept. 17, 2016. Celebrities such as Arthur Godfrey, Cher, Dick Clark, Sophia Loren, Perry Como, and James Dean, in addition to politicians including Presidents Truman, Eisenhower, Carter, Reagan, Bush, and Clinton, appear on screen and seem to come to life with one familiar face by each of their sides — the face of Pat Boone.
And within moments, dressed in white fringe and sequins, Pat Boone — like a beloved family member whom one hasn’t seen in ages— appears on stage looking and sounding wonderful, performing his first #1 hit, 1957’s “April Love.”
Mr. Boone is here this evening at StocktonPAC in Galloway, NJ to present his autobiographical one-man show and take this audience, comprised mainly of folks 55 and over, on a sentimental journey down Memory Lane as he sings songs and tells stories of his over fifty years in show business.
Recognized by Billboard Magazine as the #10 best-selling recording artist of all time with nearly 50 million records sold, Boone intersperses tales of his life on television, in films, and on the stage with a unique variety of songs sung in his warm baritone voice still sounding velvety, resonant, and inviting.
As the small but devoted crowd enjoys his stories and songs, they’re treated to unique on-screen visuals including photos and film clips which illustrate Boone’s easy-going yet intriguing narrative. These images and clips highlight classic performances of Boone’s concert, movie, and television appearances archived during his expansive career.
Stating, “There’s no greater compliment than when an audience can sing along,” Boone not only gets the crowd singing with him as he croons his next tune, but he also has them whistling, too, as he conducts them in an impromptu performance of yet another 1957 #1 smash, “Love Letters in the Sand.”
With hits like this, in addition to stories about his career as a singer, actor, TV host, author, radio personality, family man, and humanitarian, this “Pat-of-all-trades” absolutely charms the members of this South Jersey audience with his pleasant singing, vivid storytelling, and down-home personality.
Over the course of the evening, Boone, 82, also shares with his fans various gems of wisdom gleaned via his lifetime in the entertainment business. Stating, for example, that, “Every show I do is a part of my life and a part of each audience member’s life,” he truly gets the crowd contemplating what they are experiencing at this very moment, particularly when he declares, “As long as you live, you can never deny we shared this time together.”
Being the gentleman he is, he explains to the audience that, before the show, he was informed there happens to be a woman in the crowd who “needs a little cheering up.” As a result, he goes on to introduce the entire audience to a woman named Barbara, and he dedicates his entire evening of songs and stories to her, much to Barbara’s and the audience’s delight.
As the night unfolds, we go on to learn a lot more about Boone’s life, both personally and professionally. We learn, for example, that even in high school, Boone was already well-known to his friends for wearing his trademark white buck shoes.
He also reveals that he married his high school sweetheart, Shirley, before graduating from Columbia University, where he studied to become a teacher. In fact, by the age of 23, Boone already had a wife, four young daughters — including Debby, who, in 1977, went on to have a #1 hit with “You Light Up My Life” — in addition to a string of hit records including cover versions of Fats Domino’s “Ain’t That a Shame” and Little Richard’s “Tutti Frutti.”
At 23, he was also the host of his very own TV show — The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom — a forum where he was delighted to be able to present to America such notable guests as Ella Fitzgerald and Nat King Cole, particulary during a time in American history when the mainstream media did not always promote the talents of people of color. In addition, he appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show a total of 12 times.
Telling the audience about his most embarrassing TV moment, he recounts the time he literally “flipped his wig,” a performance which has been preserved for posterity and can now be seen on YouTube. While doing a guest spot in the 1990s on a talk show called Music City Tonight, Boone decided to entertain the show’s panel and audience with some Will Rogers’ style-rope tricks. Unfortunately, on one of his early attempts, Boone’s lasso actually knocked his Will Rogers toupee from his head, sending him scrambling to recover the wig while the panel members and audience squealed with delight.
After a span of 35 years without a hit record, Boone tells the crowd about his 1997 “comeback” album — In a Metal Mood: No More Mr. Nice Guy — an unlikely recording featuring heavy metal songs with jazz accompaniments, a project which put him back on the charts and back in the public eye.
At this point, Boone stuns the audience by leaving the stage for a moment and coming back out in a black fringe leather jacket and shades to sing a metal/jazz version of Deep Purple’s “Smoke on the Water.”
Known primarily as an interpreter of songs, Boone reminds the audience that over the years, he’s also been a creator of songs. According to Pat, his favorite personal composition is 1961’s “Exodus: This Land is Mine.” Borrowing the music from the theme to the movie, Exodus, Pat wrote the words to the song on the back of a Christmas card. In addition to being covered by artists including Andy Williams and The Duprees, he proudly notes the song also went on to become “the second national anthem of Israel.”
Following a rousing live rendition of Neil Diamond’s “Brother Love’s Traveling Salvation Show,” Boone concludes his evening of music and dialogue when he unabashedly displays his patriotism and faith by performing another original composition, “Under God.” With his hand on his heart, in this song — his 61st hit record — he sings about the importance of these “two sacred words” in America’s Pledge of Allegiance.
Following an enthusiastic standing ovation, audience members file out into the StocktonPAC lobby and are thrilled to discover that Mr. Boone has made himself available to chat with his fans, take photos with them, and sign autographs.
As they wait in line, his devoted followers have much to say about Boone’s performance tonight.
“I’m speechless!” reveals one audience member who also declares, “He’s still the same man we all fell in love with as teenagers.”
“The moments and the clips made it a fabulous show,” says another fan, who further goes on to add, “and he still has that tone!”
And yet another devotee notes, “He’s very personable — he really does appreciate his audiences. The last time I saw him was back in 1973 in Asbury Park, but tonight he was even better!”
As people take their turns to meet Boone, it’s obvious that through his songs, stories, and personality, he is clearly able to revive cherished memories for them from their younger, more carefree, days.
One woman, for example, can be seen grinning from ear to ear and giggling like a schoolgirl upon getting her chance to finally meet her personal idol after oh-so-many years. While she’s engaging in warm chat with Mr. Boone, her husband — carefully standing watch from several yards away — jokingly looks over at Boone and shouts, “You can’t kiss her, Pat!” and then whisks her away, much to his wife’s utter delight.
But perhaps Boone’s biggest fan here at StocktonPAC is Barbara, who reveals she’s “been in love with Pat” since she was a kid, asserting, “there’s no one who loves him more than me — except his wife, Shirley.”
Barbara further discloses that, as a youngster, she and her friends frequently pretended they were married to celebrities, and she “always picked Pat Boone.” As a longtime admirer, Barbara says she “brought the whole attic with her” to be autographed tonight — record albums, photographs, books, and more.
Even more importantly, however, she brought her grown-up daughter to share in this memorable experience reminiscing with someone whom she’s loved for over a half-century, proving that for Barbara — as well as for others who came to visit tonight — Pat Boone is not just an entertainer.
He’s family.
For more on Pat Boone, please go to patboone.com. For more on upcoming performances at StocktonPAC — including When Swing Was King: The Music of Benny Goodman on October 16, 2016, and 103 Years of Broadway with Neil Berg on November 19, 2016 — please see stocktonpac.org
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