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By
Ivy Moore
Maureen
McGovern enthralls Sumter crowd
M
aureen
McGovern is a vegetarian who travels with Spirutein and
Soy Silk to sustain her energy — and she’s not afraid
to talk about how the soy products prevent her hot flashes.
In fact, she admits to being in “the last six months of
my 51st year,” though her appearance and high-energy stage
performance in Sumter Thursday night belie her having
hit the half-century mark.
McGovern’s discography is extensive, covering the last
28 years. Music is more than just a job, it’s a passion
for the singer, she admits. “From the third grade on,
I knew music would be my life’s work,” she explained in
a pre-performance interview.
“Before I could talk, my mother said she’d come into my
room in the middle of the night and find me singing ‘Irene,
Good Night,”’ she said, with a laugh. “When I was around
5, my dad’s barbershop quartet would come over to practice.
That probably gave me my first sense of harmony. I’ve
always been fascinated by the a capella voice, and I always
try to include at least one a capella piece in my concerts.
It just reaches you in a different way and gives you a
little more...”
McGovern definitely reached the Patriot Hall audience
with her a capella rendition of Harold Arlen’s “Over the
Rainbow.” Sung without a microphone, as well, the wistful
ballad held the audience rapt — not even a cough disturbed
the moment.
“Of course, I got started on stage in ‘The Sound of Music’
and ‘South Pacific,’ and I just did ‘The King and I,’
McGovern said. “That (Anna) was a part I’d always wanted
to play. I just like being able to do it all (as far as
performing).
“In the ‘70s, I was known as ‘the disaster queen,’ (for
singing the themes to ‘The Towering Inferno’ and ‘The
Poseidon Adventure’), and that was wonderful, too.” She
laughed.
McGovern names as influences, besides her father’s barbershop
quartet in Youngstown, Ohio, where she grew up, several
icons of popular music — Mel Torme, Ella Fitzgerald, Judy
Collins, Streisand — “her early stuff” — Judy Garland,
the Beatles “and lots more.” She’s recorded most of the
Great American Songbook, those popular songs by George
and Ira Gershwin, Harold Arlen, Cole Porter, Richard Rodgers
— with both Oscar Hammerstein II and Lorenz Hart as lyricists
— Jerome Kern and others.
“I love the Great American Songbook,” she said, “because
those songs have such great lyrics and melodies. There
are some great songs being written today, but they’re
the exception. I really love Richard Rodgers, especially
his songs written with Lorenz Hart. They’re so different
from the songs he wrote with Hammerstein.”
McGovern obviously enjoys performing with jazz guitarist
and singer John Pizzarelli. “He’s a great musician and
a lot of fun on the long bus rides. He’s a great guitarist
and singer,” she said.
Pizzarelli opened Thursday’s concert with his trio, exhibiting
an incredible talent and a pleasing voice and style reminiscent
of Mose Allison and Michael Franks, with a little Sinatra
thrown in. Either headliner could have brought down the
house, but to see Pizzarelli and McGovern together was
a treat unequalled for Sumter. Their closing duets — a
scat challenge — were simply some of the best jazz around.
McGovern followed her Sumter performance with concerts
in Charleston and Greenville. (“I love Charleston, and
I’ve been enjoying Sumter.”)
In the near future, she says, she’s “starting a company
that will produce a library of life-affirming music. It
will be used in tandem with certain medical procedures.
People have been using ‘The Morning After’ like that for
years — and it is a powerful message of hope and survival.
“In June, I’ll be in a show of ‘Sondheim and Jazz’ at
Carnegie Hall with several other performers. I’m looking
forward to that.”
Hopefully, McGovern will someday return to Sumter for
another concert. Though a great many people were there
Thursday to give her the standing ovation she deserved,
there were several empty seats that should have been filled.
A singer of McGovern’s caliber seldom comes to our town,
and it’s amazing that Patriot Hall didn’t have a lengthy
waiting list for tickets.
Those of us who were there will never forget the evening.
To paraphrase one of McGovern’s own Gold Records, “We
may never love (a performance) like this again.”
Ivy Moore comments each week on cultural events and
the art of leisure. Write to
“Out & About” c/o The Item at P.O. Box 1677, Sumter,
S.C. 29151, call 775-6331, Ext. 243, or e-mail ivym@theitem.com.
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