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"4
Girls 4"
Concord
Pavilion Magazine | May 1979
How can 4 girls with four celebrated backgrounds,
4 very private lives and four very distinct egos
travel together, work together night after night
all over the country and get along without driving
each other up the walls? College sororities, women's
olympics, girl scouts and bridge clubs have been
dealing with this problem for decades. And these
four girls are definitely not the "women's
olympics" and certainly not the "girl
scout" types. Any on of them would ordinarily
rather travel with three men, or a bevy or be a
mascot for the men's olympics. But together they
are, and hundreds of thousands of men and women
all over the country are sharing in the pure delight
of it. "The Girls" happen to be Rosemary
Clooney, Rose Marie, Helen O'Connell, and Margaret
Whiting, all legends in their own right but together
as "4 Girls 4" one of the most exciting
attractions on the American stage today.
On September 6th, 1977, the Beverly Hills Doheny
Plaza Theatre witnessed a happening. Four girls
got up and sang. That doesn't sound particularly
earth shattering in an era where everyday happenings
might consist of 42 topless Playboy Bunnies skateboarding
down Sunset Boulevard with sparklers on their tails
or Dino De Laurentis blowing up the Bistro in a
towering inferno amongst a hurricane with a large
ape serving martinis, all for fun. But a happening
it was. Because these were four very special girls
with four very unique gifts exploding on stage with
the big band sound of Frankie Ortega. The evening
generated such excitement and warmth that the show
was soon moved to the Huntington Hartford theatre
where singularly and together they mesmerized sell-out
audiences for three weeks and formed a bond that
would carry them to the Fairmont Hotel in New Orleans,
to Savannah for the dedication of the new "Johnny
Mercer Theatre," to the Anaheim Convention
Centre, to San Diego, to the North Shore Music Theatre
in Beverly Mass., to the Smithville Music Tent outside
Atlantic City, to the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco
and on and on breaking all records wherever they
played and sending producers scurrying back to their
desks wondering, "Why didn't I think of that?"
"New York Magazine," "Time,"
"Newsweek," and "People," plus
the major talk shows all began to sing praises to
these singers and now everybody wants to share in
the fun from New York to Vegas. The girls have just
enough time to get home and wash out their lingerie
before hitting the road again leaving lovers, family
and friends waving at the airport. How do they handle
it, the girls, not the lovers? I guess the key work
is chemistry and the fact that it all happened so
fast.
When Rosemary Clooney, whose own natural warmth
and distinctive singing style on recordings and
on screen has made everyone, including the late
unflappable Bing Crosby, want to "C'mon to
her house," first heard of the idea, she thought,
"Great. Terrific. It'll just be one week in
L.A. I can be home with my five kids (count 'em
five), and that will be the end of it." Little
did she know that some of the kids would end up
traveling with her which turned out to be a good
thing for Margaret Whiting. When Maggie's hairdresser
didn't show up on night the "Cloon's"
oldest daughter, Maria, came to the rescue and did
a better job than the hairdresser.
"Baby" Rose Marie, who was a national
child-singing phenomenon at six, grew up right before
the public eye to become one of the cleverest and,
thanks to her brilliance on the Dick Van Dyke Show,
and her predominance on every other show (especially
Hollywood Squares), one of the most instantly recognizable
comediennes in the business. She still sings in
her own inimitable style and cracks up the other
girls by imitating them in the dressing room. Christmas
day, Rose included Margaret, who makes her home
primarily in New York, as part of her family celebration
in her L.A. home.
When not stringing beads for Rose, Helen O'Connell
holds the unchallengeable title of "Backstage
Health Counsel," She can diagnose anything
from leprosy to laryngitis right on target, and
secretly always wanted to be a pediatrician. She
also removes costume stains, repairs lipstick smudges,
and has the uncanny ability to negotiate professional
discounts at hotels, jewelry shops, and clothing
stores-- including free parking. This is the same
beautiful Helen O'Connell who, with her lilting
voice and hit songs like "Tangerine,"
really gave Jimmy Dorsey and the Big Band era its
swing.
Every evening when the houselights go down, the
audience tenses in anticipation, the follow-spots
laser in on the imposing form of Frankie Ortega
as he cues up the orchestra and, with ah wave of
his baton, cuts loose with the most exciting overture
since Garland hysteria--it is Margaret Whiting who
starts the show, singing. Every morning as the sun
comes up it is Margaret Whiting who starts the day,
singing. Who needs coffee when Maggie's around?
Her zest for living and genuine sparkle can warm
even the coldest winter in Vermont, whose "Moonlight"
she made famous, along with so many other hits.
Having grown up surrounded by the greatest music
in the world, much of it written by her father,
Richard Whiting, her entire life is a song, be it
upbeat and radiant or mellow blues, or the innocent
desire of those around her. She is totally disciplined
(alright girls, let's get moving . . . we're running
into overtime): approaches everyone with love, and
is an incorrigible flirt.
So there you have it . . . "Four Girls Four,"
an enigma. An incomparable mixture of nostalgia
and today! Girls who can fill a theatre without
the need of complex electronics, but with simplicity
and purity of sound emanating directly from the
heart. And when they open their hearts on stage
for a few brief hours it seems like the whole world
is in love.
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