(Above: Shirley Andress sings the songs of Doris Day; photo courtesy of The Shedd Institute for the Arts)
By Randi Bjornstad
Singer and actress Doris Day, who died in 2019 at age 97, still has a name and repertoire that dot the musical and movie landscapes, familiar even among those who came along decades after her heyday in the 1940s, ’50s, and ’60s.
Some of the still most familiar, hummable and singable titles among her many top-of-the-charts songs are Que Sera Sera, Secret Love, It’s Magic, Everybody Loves a Lover, Sentimental Journey, and Bewitched. Most of those and many others will be on the playlist when Shirley Andress links up with the Emerald City Jazz Kings in a show called What Will Be Will Be (English for Que Sera Sera).
In fact, this concert will be performed four times from Sept, 9-12, 2021, three times in Eugene at The Shedd’s Jaqua Concert Hall, and once at the LaSells Stewart Center at Oregon State University in Corvallis.
It’s not the first time that Andress has performed a retrospective of the careers of leading female singers, at The Shedd and beyond.
Previously, Andress also evoked the style and career of her childhood idol, Barbra Streisand — twice — in 2019 and 2020, the latter being one of the last performances at The Shedd before the coronavirus pandemic shut the world down for well over a year. She also previously performed the songs that highlighted torch singer Peggy Lee’s career.
“This show is different from my Peggy Lee and Streisand projects in that I am not one solo person carrying the load,” Andress said. “The other ‘Doris’ in this show is Marisa Frantz — she has the perfect texture and sultry, sweet sound for a Doris Day tune. She also happens to be my step-daughter and it’s really fun for us to sing together.”
Vocalist Dylan Stasack also is in the cast, singing the duets that Day originally sang with Buddy Clark for Columbia Records, plus a couple of solo tunes, Andress said.
Another difference from her previous solo shows is working with a larger group of musicians, more of a big band feel that the previous small ensembles, partly because Day frequently performed fully orchfestrated numbers with the Les Brown Band.
This time around, the Emerald Jazz Kings players will be led by bandleader and pianist Vicki Brabham, along with Daniel Cathey, Matthew Taylor and Devin Wright on reeds; trumpeters Cody Simmons and Bailey Tucker; Glenn Griffith on trombone; guitarist Steve Arriola; Nathan Waddell on bass; and drummer Don Elkington.
As far as covering the Doris Day repertoire, “I have prepared for this concert as I always do by studying the ‘person’ that Doris was,” Andress said. ” I’ve listened to her vocal style for almost a year now and have really fallen in love with the simple and honest approach she takes in her singing. With that said, that girl had some pipes and could really swing.”
Selecting material for the program was easy, Andress said. “I simply programmed hit after hit — Billboard, film and even jukebox.”
Despite Doris Day’s seemingly perpetually sunny persona, her life was not necessarily all that happy, Andress discovered in her research and wrote in a piece that will be included in the program notes for the show:
I will tell you that she is a gal who loved normal things in life the most. She longed for companionship and love but always seemed to come up just short of that with three failed marriages, the death of another spouse and an only son who passed away after a long battle with cancer. Her personal life wasn’t rosy, but she vowed to put one foot in front of the other each day. She practiced seeing a positive in every difficult situation. She didn’t see the benefit in sharing her personal troubles with the world. Why bring others down? Her song choices and film work reflect that attitude.
Like many other aspects of life lately, this performance will be affected by the looming presence of the coronavirus pandemic and its Delta variant, but Andress said she is “quite thrilled to finally get this show on its feet after so many covid postponements and adjustments.”
“My Doris Day crew of 13 is fully vaccinated, and we are ready to do what we love to do best,” she said. “For me, this concert could not have come at a better time. Life is extremely challenging right now. We could all use some positivity, light-heartedness and beauty. The Doris Day songbook reflects exactly that — pure joy.”
With that in mind, however, the following protocols will be mandated for the What Will Be Will Be performances:
- In accordance Oregon Health authority mandate, masks will be required indoors for everyone, whether vaccinated for covid or not;
- Everyone entering The Shedd’s public performance spaces must present proof of completed covid-19 vaccination(s) or proof of a negative test for covid within three days of the performance;
- For questions or updates, go online to theshedd.org or call the ticket office at 541-434-7000.
What Will Be Will Be
Performances:
- 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 9, Jaqua Concert Hall, The Shedd Institute for the Arts, 868 High St., Eugene; tickets $22-$32 (some discounts available; youth free)
- 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 10, La Sells Stewart Center, Oregon State University; tickets $25 (some discounts available; youth free)
- 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 11, Jaqua Concert Hall, The Shedd Institute for the Arts, 868 High St., Eugene; tickets $22-$32 (some discounts available; youth free)
- 3 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 12,
- Jaqua Concert Hall, The Shedd Institute for the Arts, 868 High St., Eugene; tickets $22-$32 (some discounts available; students free)
Tickets and discounts:
- Youth high school and younger admitted free
- College w/current student ID, 10% discount
- Group discount of 10% for purchases of 8 or more tickets to a single show; group discount of 15% for purchases of 20 or more
- No combining of discounts
- Tickets available at The Shedd ticket office, 868 High St., Eugene; by telephone at 541-434-7000; online at theshedd.org
- Pre-concert or post-concert meals available; details and tickets online at theshedd.org
