Review: At 89, Johnny Mathis was still wonderful, wonderful at Mystic Lake

Before the Beatles wanted to hold somebody’s hand, before Al Green urged you to stay together, before Marvin Gaye implored you to get it on, Johnny Mathis had young couples making out to “Wonderful! Wonderful!” “It’s Not for Me to Say” and other late 1950s hits.

Nearly 70 years after his heyday, Mathis was back in town Saturday night at Mystic Lake Casino showroom in Prior Lake with that unmistakable voice, those amorous songs and the most beautifully romantic concert in a theater in recent memory.

Although he mentioned that he hadn’t sung in a while, you could have closed your eyes and imagined it was 1960-something. Mathis’ voice was remarkably pristine, a little richer with less quivering, fewer low notes and startling power. He often sang with the microphone away from his mouth — even down to his waist a couple of times — and his voice was strong, clear and ideally emotive.

The repertoire was mostly familiar and appealingly diverse with a few movie themes and show tunes, a Henry Mancini medley, a trio of Brazilian selections, a much-covered Bee Gees number and, of course, the pre-rock ‘n’ roll hits that made Mathis famous.

There was a swooning, romantic sophistication to his signature songs. His poetic talking intro set for the scene for 1957’s “It’s Not for Me to Say,” which segued into that year’s smash “Chances Are” and then 1962’s “Gina,” which he animated with his eyebrows and a gleam in his eyes. He was greeted with big cheers and whistles.

While that hits medley was a winner, the celebrated San Francisco singer in the white dinner jacket and gray pants may have topped that threesome with his Mancini medley that featured an up-tempo Latin treatment of “Moment to Moment” and peaked on the finale, a goose-bump-inducing “Moon River,” which earned a mid-show standing ovation from about 1,500 concertgoers.

The arrangements were sublime, with pianist/conductor Scott Lavender, on board with Mathis for 33 years, conducting the local 25-piece StringGenius Orchestra and Mathis’ traveling combo, featuring his drummer of 43 years, Joe Lizama. Acoustic guitarist Kerry Marx, who was introduced as Mathis’ golfing buddy, stepped forward to accompany Mathis on a series of Brazilian tunes. The ballad “Manha De Carneval” from the 1959 Oscar-winning “Black Orpheus” and the festive “Brazil” changed both the texture and tempos of the concert.

The other change of pace was having veteran comedian Gary Mule Deer perform a 20-minute set in the middle of the show. At 85, he entertained the white-haired crowd with his musical parodies and ready-for-Branson jokes like a president should be limited to two terms — one in office, one in prison.

After Mule Deer’s well-received set, Mathis returned in a black tuxedo with a red boutonniere, lost his focus briefly during “Baubles, Bangles and Beads” from the 1953 musical “Kismet” but quickly recovered to seduce with the delicate “Secret Love,” the Doris Day number from the ‘53 film Calamity Jane.”

“Wonderful! Wonderful!” his debut hit from 1956, lived up to its title, as he crooned the final lyrics “Oh, so wonderful, my love” and then, in a spoken word coda, went “uh huh” for a perfectly tender punctuation.

Other highlights of the second set were the swirling, tension-filled “99 Miles from L.A.” a reading of the 1975 Albert Hammond hit, as well as Mathis’ ’57 classic “The Twelfth of Never,” with just a hint of quiver and the encore of the ‘50s rock standard “Let the Good Times Roll,” which the crooner belted like the full-voiced rocker he never was.

Mathis, who hadn’t performed in the Twin Cities since 2014, mentioned he had a gimpy knee. Hunched over, the singer, who now looks like Lorne Greene’s kid brother with collarbone-length silver and rust hair, moved gingerly throughout his 75 minutes onstage. But we should all summon so much passion and purpose at age 89.