Young at Heart

Paul and I decided to return to Michael Feinstein's club this past weekend. Petula Clark was singing and we thought it would be fun to see her in person. Feinstein's is an intimate restaurant with a small stage for the performer. The band consisted of a pianist, two guitars and a drummer. We arrived early enough to enjoy dinner and take the measure of the people sitting next (very close) to us. The woman at the table to our left was an elderly widow, but it was apparent she was not a first timer. All the waiters seemed to know her and she even waved to Michael when he entered with his dinner guests. She had invited a younger man (he was about 70) to join her. During their conversation she mentioned that her building had "gone condo" and he asked if she had bought her apartment that she had lived in for 35 years. She replied that she hadn't but had two years left on her lease and judging from her frail state, she probably wouldn't need to renew. The two guys who were sitting just in front of us were a couple in their late 30's. The one guy was explaining that he loved Petula Clark and had grown up listening to her music. This was quite apparent when as each song started he stood up clapping and then proceeded to sing along. Clearly a fan.
Here is the one detail I left out of the story and which makes it rather funny. It never occurred to us until just before Ms. Clark arrived on stage that she could be much older than about 65. I don't know why, but it just didn't seem possible that she could or should be much older than that. In truth, she is 79. While she gave it her best shot, there was a lot to be desired. She pulled out all the tricks like having the audience sing along, having us all clap loudly while she attempted to sing, saying the lyrics rather than singing them, telling long stories in between each song so she could catch her breath. I won't even go into her attempts to dance to the music----it wasn't pretty. But we came away with fond memories of when Petuta could sing and we loved her songs---Downtown, Don't Sleep in the Subway, I Know a Place, My Love----A few clicks on ITunes and we found the Petula we remembered. But it was still a lovely evening and I had a very handsome date who bought me dinner and made me laugh.