Debby Boone

Boon gives fond tribute to Rosemary Clooney at Tulsa Concert

SHERRY BROWN/Tulsa World Debby Boone sings selections from her CD “Reflections of Rosemary,” at Tulsa Community College’s Performing Arts Center for Education.

By JAMES D. WATTS JR. World Scene Writer
3/19/2007



Of course Debby Boone sang "You Light Up My Life."

It's the song that made her name, and is one that audiences expect to hear her perform.

But if Friday night's concert with the Signature Symphony at Tulsa Community College is any indication, it won't be long before Debby Boone will be able -- if she wants -- to let that particular "Light" go out, and no one will miss it.

Boone closed out the Signature Symphony's Pops season for 2006-2007 with "Reflections of Rosemary," a program based on her 2005 CD of the same name.

The Rosemary in question is Rosemary Clooney, one of great American pop singers of the 20th century and Boone's mother-in-law. But the important word in the title is "Reflections."

Boone did not want to imitate Clooney, or simply rehash the songs for which Clooney is famous. Instead, she wanted to use songs and stories to talk about the love, the families, the friends and the memories the two women shared. So, in the end, these "Reflections of Rosemary" were as much about the heart and mind of Debby Boone as they were about Clooney's life and talents.

Clooney's presence, however, was quite evident. The stage was decorated with a table bearing flowers and a

portrait of Clooney, and Boone pointed out she was wearing a dress that Oscar-winning designer Edith Head created for Clooney. And most of the arrangements of the songs were created for Clooney by John Oddo, her long-time musical director.

Clooney even helped open the show, in a way. In talking about the genesis of the project, Boone spoke of how Clooney had made a special recording of "Blue Skies" for Boone's oldest son. Boone played that recording, with Clooney singing a capella, complete with her announcing the approach of the "big finish."

Then Boone sang her version of the song, done in a slow and melancholy way, that seemed to sum up all the happy and sad memories Boone now associates with that song.

And this set the tone for the evening, or at least stated its purpose: Rosemary Clooney was the inspiration, but what we were going to hear was Debby Boone.

And what the very full crowd in the VanTrease Performing Arts Center for Education got weresome great songs performed with a great deal of emotion and style. Some songs featured the full orchestra, while others used a cabaret-like combo that featured Signature Symphony members Richard Cox on saxophone, Scott Senter on trumpet and Greg Spears on bass.

Boone does not have a great range, but she does know how to use her voice to its best effect, to get exactly what she wants from the songs she sings. She was most effective in the slower numbers, like "More Than You Know" and "All By Myself Alone," the medley of Johnny Mercer songs that was capped off with a gorgeous "Come Rain or Come Shine," a haunting "It Never Entered My Mind" and an emotionally charged "You Are There," that Boone sang to that portrait of Clooney on the table.

She turned Hank Williams' "I'm So Lonely I Could Cry" into a bluesy swing number, and sang a new arrangement by John Oddo of "Moon River," adding later that Andy Williams was so taken by her version that "he tried to steal it."

"When Andy Williams wants to steal your arrangement of 'Moon River,' you know you got something good," she said.

Boone even did a second, unrehearsed encore of "It Might as Well Be Spring" from the film "State Fair" -- so unrehearsed that she forget the lyrics for a moment and had to backtrack a bit to remember what came next.

The first half of the evening was something of a preview of things to come. Artistic director Barry Epperley announced the lineup for the orchestra's 2007-08 season, and led the orchestra through music representing each upcoming concert.

The program ranged from Bernstein's "West Side Story" to Kander & Ebb's "New York, New York," from Gershwin's "Fascinating Rhythm" to Leroy Anderson's "The Typewriter," with principal percussionist Lois Ahrend at the titular keyboard.

Epperley also presented the encore of "Heartland Trilogy," the piece the orchestra commissioned from Brant Adams in honor the centennial. I don't know if there's been any tinkering with the piece since it's premiere earlier this year, but this time the piece's final movement, "Land Run," lived up to its title much better than we remembered.

By JAMES D. WATTS JR. World Scene Writer