CLEVELAND, Ohio - Most everybody of a certain age thinks Petula Clark "burst" on the scene in 1965 with the release of "Downtown."
Pshaw. By that time, she had a quarter-century's worth of showbiz under her belt.
Clark began her career as a kid, and was "discovered" as a 9-year-old singing songs to comfort those at a BBC radio program during a bombing raid during the German blitzkrieg of World War II. Since then, the now 85-year-old has been a star of radio, movies, the big screen and, of course, the concert stage.
"I think doing concerts is my favorite because I can actually be me," said Clark in a call to New York City. What's fun - and funny - is that the tour that is bringing her to the Kent Stage of Friday, Dec. 15, is her first in the United States. "When I first started over here, I had two small children, and I had a career in France," she said. "I was all over Europe trying to negotiate that as well. "I did concerts here and there, but I didn't do an actual tour," said Clark, who's experiencing all the joys of touring, including her very first tour bus.
"It's great," she said, enthusiastically. "We haven't done a lot of dates so far. We did four or five and had a break for Thanksgiving, and I went to California to be with my son."
Clark has, in fact, toured the country several times. But to date, that's been as a cast member of a musical, and she's eating up the opportunity. "When I'm doing 'Sunset Boulevard,' I'm not me, I'm somebody else," she said. "I've worked with a lot of actors - brilliant actors - but they disappear when they're not in character.
"That's the way they function, but I actually come to life onstage," Clark said.
"I'm doing my own thing, doing on own songs and I choose exactly what I want to do," she said. "I do the old songs, like 'Downtown,' etc., because they're still great.
"But I'm doing new ones, too, [as well as] something from 'Sunset Boulevard and something from 'Finian's Rainbow,' and things like 'Crazy.' " she said. "I'm never quite sure what I'm going to do till I go onstage."
The "new" is from "Living for Today," which came out on Nov. 10, 2017. The album features 13 songs, nine of them written by Clark, who is a veteran composer as well as singer and actress. Among them is a cover of the Beatles' "Blackbird," always a favorite of hers, but not one she was quick to embrace as a performance option.
"It's a tricky little song," Clark said in her delightful British accent. "It's not the key, it's the changes of tempo. You've got to count all the time."
A few of the tunes are in French, a language in which she's fluent. That happens when you live there for a while.
"When I first went there, I didn't speak a word," she said, laughing.
Nor is the new album - a delightful collection of music, by the way, which shows off a voice still capable of generating excitement and tenderness in equal amounts - the last in her repertoire.
"I just finished an album in Montreal of French-Canadian songs," she said. "They're absolutely wonderful." "[French] is a Romance language," Clark said. "You can be singing the same song you've sung in English and it will sound totally different.
"I don't know what happens, but something does when you go from one language to another," she said. "All three of my children speak French as well," she said, laughing. "We switch from French to English and back all the time. It's almost like having a conversation with two different people!"
Despite all that, there is no doubt that "Downtown" remains her biggest hit, the one she can't avoid doing at shows. Not that she would anyway. But that begs the question for this world-traveler, who has had homes in her native England, Switzerland, France and the United States: What's her FAVORITE downtown? "It has to be London," she said. "London really has a heart, and it's downtown." It makes sense that her hometown is her place to go to "forget all your troubles, forget all your cares."
Petula Clark
When: 8 p.m. Friday, Dec. 15.
Where: The Kent Stage, 175 E. Main Street, Kent.
Tickets: $49 to $65, plus fees, at the box office, online at thekenstage.com and ticketfly.com or by phone at 330-677-5005.
"I think doing concerts is my favorite because I can actually be me," said Clark in a call to New York City. What's fun - and funny - is that the tour that is bringing her to the Kent Stage of Friday, Dec. 15, is her first in the United States. "When I first started over here, I had two small children, and I had a career in France," she said. "I was all over Europe trying to negotiate that as well. "I did concerts here and there, but I didn't do an actual tour," said Clark, who's experiencing all the joys of touring, including her very first tour bus.
"It's great," she said, enthusiastically. "We haven't done a lot of dates so far. We did four or five and had a break for Thanksgiving, and I went to California to be with my son."
Clark has, in fact, toured the country several times. But to date, that's been as a cast member of a musical, and she's eating up the opportunity. "When I'm doing 'Sunset Boulevard,' I'm not me, I'm somebody else," she said. "I've worked with a lot of actors - brilliant actors - but they disappear when they're not in character.
"That's the way they function, but I actually come to life onstage," Clark said.
"I'm doing my own thing, doing on own songs and I choose exactly what I want to do," she said. "I do the old songs, like 'Downtown,' etc., because they're still great.
"But I'm doing new ones, too, [as well as] something from 'Sunset Boulevard and something from 'Finian's Rainbow,' and things like 'Crazy.' " she said. "I'm never quite sure what I'm going to do till I go onstage."
The "new" is from "Living for Today," which came out on Nov. 10, 2017. The album features 13 songs, nine of them written by Clark, who is a veteran composer as well as singer and actress. Among them is a cover of the Beatles' "Blackbird," always a favorite of hers, but not one she was quick to embrace as a performance option.
"It's a tricky little song," Clark said in her delightful British accent. "It's not the key, it's the changes of tempo. You've got to count all the time."
A few of the tunes are in French, a language in which she's fluent. That happens when you live there for a while.
"When I first went there, I didn't speak a word," she said, laughing.
Nor is the new album - a delightful collection of music, by the way, which shows off a voice still capable of generating excitement and tenderness in equal amounts - the last in her repertoire.
"I just finished an album in Montreal of French-Canadian songs," she said. "They're absolutely wonderful." "[French] is a Romance language," Clark said. "You can be singing the same song you've sung in English and it will sound totally different.
"I don't know what happens, but something does when you go from one language to another," she said. "All three of my children speak French as well," she said, laughing. "We switch from French to English and back all the time. It's almost like having a conversation with two different people!"
Despite all that, there is no doubt that "Downtown" remains her biggest hit, the one she can't avoid doing at shows. Not that she would anyway. But that begs the question for this world-traveler, who has had homes in her native England, Switzerland, France and the United States: What's her FAVORITE downtown? "It has to be London," she said. "London really has a heart, and it's downtown." It makes sense that her hometown is her place to go to "forget all your troubles, forget all your cares."
Petula Clark
When: 8 p.m. Friday, Dec. 15.
Where: The Kent Stage, 175 E. Main Street, Kent.
Tickets: $49 to $65, plus fees, at the box office, online at thekenstage.com and ticketfly.com or by phone at 330-677-5005.