Shirley MacLaine Opens An Evening with Shirley MacLaine @ Valley Performing Arts Center

I recently attended a show at the new Valley Performing Arts Center in Northridge, a great hi-tech, state-of-the-art building that the San Fernando Valley has been eagerly anticipating for many years. Yes, there's Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza, but that's quite a distance. So bravo to this new venue where Valley residents can see top-notch theatre without traveling downtown or too far out of the way.

I saw An Evening with Shirley MacLaine at this venue on May 6, and as much as I adore MacLaine, I couldn't help but realize that the woman could sit and read the phone book and she would have fans hanging on her every word. She looks great at 77, still has a wonderful sense of humor, is as down-to-earth and candid as all get out. Nothing has changed about her. Thank God, for we need intelligent spokespeople like her and Jane Fonda, who are first and foremost accessible to us and then struggle tirelessly to make the world a better place.

When she made her first entrance to thunderous applause, she greeted us with a frank "You have good taste! ...Welcome to my living room!" There were many photographs, slides and film clips of MacLaine's personal as well as movie/television career and a few choice comments about old Hollywood and its legendary stars like Elizabeth Taylor, Bette Davis, Clint Eastwood, her brother Warren Beatty - "I love Annette (Bening). She's a great actress." Every comment was rather tame, hardly offensive. The worst thing she said was that Jerry Lewis would pout if anyone else came off funnier than he whilst performing a scene with him. The rat pack - Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr. were all pals and she adored them. Of course besides Hollywood, there was some metaphysical talk - do UFOs really exist? - as well as Democrat/Republican remarks, for, let's face it, Shirley MacLaine has broken bread with Bella Abzug, John and Bobby Kennedy, the Dalai Lama and has opinions about them all. I wish she had gone several steps further and been spicier with the anecdotes. But it doesn't really matter because the lady is a true icon and still pleasurable to listen to. Everyone had a good time. The two+ hour show included questions from the crowd which were innumerable and which MacLaine had to put a lid on after about 40 minutes. Otherwise, we would have been there all night. I love how she handled some people who just could not get to the point. Like a good teacher, "What is your question?" she asked, as she gestured a polite "out with it!" with her arm, always maintaining her professional cool throughout. I also love how she credits her success to her discipline as a dancer, that it made her go forward and always sustained her regardless of how she might have felt to the contrary. And... I especially loved her parting words, a comparison of life to the theatre and how we are the costumers, make-up artists, hairdressers, actors, directors and producers of our daily lives, and how it is our responsibility to give it our all.

I understand she is planning to take this new show on tour. I have one comment: Do not hold back anything! Tell it like it was, even with the dish. What do you have to lose? You are known for being upfront, so let it all hang out! We love you!
Brava!

 

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