Classy singer Tony Bennett twice opened new venues in Milwaukee
Tony Bennett, who died Friday at age 96, not only sang many times in Milwaukee but was brought here twice specifically to launch new venues with his classy stage presence and warm voice.
In 1984 Bennett performed the official opening concert at the renovated and restored Riverside Theater (after a few shakedown performances by other artists).
After praising the theater's sound qualities, "Bennett christened it midway through his first set by singing 'Fly Me to the Moon' without a microphone," Milwaukee Sentinel reviewer Jim Higgins wrote. "The dramatic gesture — whether spontaneous or rehearsed, won a huge ovation from the audience."
Bennett's most characteristic stage gesture in that concert was leaning forward with open arms in the half-circle of an embrace. "If Tony Bennett wanted to hug Milwaukee, then Milwaukee was ready to squeeze back. The singer was consistently greeted with wistful sighs when he began songs and waves of applause when he ended them."
Similarly, a Bennett concert was the touch of class Potawatomi Bingo Casino called on when it opened as a performance venue in 2000. The Journal Sentinel's Dave Tianen wrote:
"If you had a new enterprise you wanted to launch in the classiest manner possible, who better to pop the cork on the first champagne bottle than Tony Bennett?
"Unlike so many singers today, he understands that it is often easier and better to command attention by singing softly rather than shouting at an audience. Like Sinatra, he is a conversational singer. Ballads are delivered with precision but intimacy. Occasionally, he resorts to the big finish as on 'Autumn Leaves,' but he never showboats. Wednesday, he sang most of 'That Old Devil Moon' in a near whisper. He is a clever and resourceful vocal dramatist."
For several decades, local reviewers have been astonished at how Bennett kept going in his golden years at such a high level.
In 2017 at age 90, even with some physical limitations apparent, Bennett showed "commanding familiarity" with the classic pop and vocal-jazz numbers he performed at the Riverside Theater, reviewer Jon M. Gilbertson wrote.
His 2015 Riverside Theater concert made Journal Sentinel music critic Piet Levy's Top 10 list for that year:
"I can only pray I'm as cool and positive as Tony Bennett when I'm 89 years old. The legendary crooner simultaneously conveyed inspiring wisdom and childlike wonder singing a series of timeless pop classics. And the passion and power of his voice, at his age? Man, unbelievable."
In a 2014 interview Bennett, then 87, responded to Levy's question about his secret to going strong at that age:
"I take care of myself. I work out three times a week. I have a trainer, and we just work out for an hour. My wife is a very good cook and serves just the right amount, never a lot. When you get older, you don't have to eat a lot. I get my rest and sleep very well at night. It keeps me very balanced.
"A lot of people don't realize, but I'm 87 and I'm still learning. And I can't tell you how much more I have to learn beyond what I know already."
When Levy asked the "still learning" musician for the most valuable lesson he's absorbed, Bennett responded:
"You can't believe how many mistakes I made when I was younger. Now I'm very content and have no desire to screw anything up. I really practice forgiveness. I'm not angry about anything. If I'm ever frustrated, I change the subject right away. To me, life is a gift, and it's a blessing to just be alive."
In her review of a 2012 concert at the Marcus Performing Arts Center, Elaine Schmidt praised the lack of ego in Bennett's vocal performance:
"His delivery was all about the songs, not about the singer. He created a distinct mood with each number, making a personal, heartfelt statement with each tune."
In his review of a 2005 benefit concert for the Salvation Army at the Pabst Theater, Tianen called attention to Bennet's multigenerational appeal and cachet:
"Bennett’s renewed hipness has nothing to do with any changes he’s made. Rather, it’s a matter of a new generation discovering what was always there."
This famous Italian-American performed a 1994 Marcus Amphitheater concert during Festa Italiana. Reviewer Dave Luhrssen described the show:
"Although he announced that each of the night's songs was Italian, in tribute to Festa Italiana as well as his own heritage, what Bennett did was to work his way across the catalog of hits from the golden age of American popular songwriting. Moonlight and romance have seldom sounded so suave and so right-on in recent decades."
In his review of a 1983 Bennett performance with the Milwaukee Symphony Pops, Milwaukee Journal reviewer Kevin Lynch wrote that he sang with "romance, soul and a dash of ham.… His dusky, back-slapping voice makes the listener think: yeah, this guy understands."
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Tony Bennett's many Milwaukee concerts included launches of two venues
