Newton-John Begins Concert Tour
HOLLYWOOD (UPI)
Olivia Newton-John will hit the road, perhaps for the last time, this summer with 50 one-night concerts in a span of two months.
Beginning in Washington, D.C., Aug. 9, Olivia will cover the East Coast, New England, the Midwest, South, Southwest and West Coast. Streisand, Midler and Ronstadt notwithstanding, Olivia is the hottest pop singer in the country today, still reaping a fortune from her “Let’s Get Physical” album, which was No. 1 in Billboard for 10 weeks.
All of her dozen albums Shave gone gold, from the very first “Let Me Be There” in 1973 through “Physical.” “Physical,” like six of her previous albums, reached platinum status (more than 2 million copies sold), and became a highly rated one-woman television special earlier this year viewed by 31 million Americans.
Is it any wonder that Olivia’s cross-country concert saga will be called “Physical Tour of North America ‘82?” Olivia strolled into MCA Records headquarters the other day looking like a woodland nymph. She wore a green and white hand-printed tunic over red tights and red boots, rolled down at the top, that came almost to her knee.
It’s been four years since the delicate blonde Australian beauty toured. In the interim she did television, recorded and starred in two movies: “Grease,” the most successful box-office musical in history and “Xanadu,” a turkey.
Olivia, 33, is a millionaire many times over. Indeed, she need never have worked after the “Grease” album, which sold an incredible 10 million copies. Now let’s see, at $1 each as Olivia’s share that’s…hmmmm.
Now she must leave her comfortable horse ranch at Malibu and her live-in boyfriend of three years, actor Matt Lattanzi, several years her junior, for the arduous tour.
Why, Olivia was asked, has she elected to hit the road?
She gave the question some thought before answering. “Because it may be my last opportunity.”
“I’m doing this for my fans. Most of the letters I get ask me when I will appear again in their part of the country. They want to see me.”
“I’ve done about everything I could dream of in recording, films and television. I’m afraid of becoming complacent. So my personal goal at the moment is to see if I can do it all over again.”
“When you become popular, you also have a growing desire not to disappoint the people who buy your records or see your movies.”
Olivia is astonishingly unchanged from the wide-eyed Hollywood newcomer of a decade ago. She lives in the slow lane, no drugs, no booze, no wild parties or revolving door love affairs.
She separates her fans into three categories, those “who go all the way back to the old days,” those who tuned into Olivia with “Grease” and the pre-teens who never heard of her before “Physical.”
“I saw a singing star 10 years ago and was disappointed when she sang only a few of her well-known songs in a medley,” Olivia said. “I told myself I’d never do that.”
“My concerts will be composed of the songs that made me famous. The first half will be from the first five years of my career. The second half will be the songs since ‘Grease.’ I’ll include a couple of new ones, too.”
If this is to be Olivia’s final tour, what plans does she have for the future?
“Movies,” she said. “After ‘Xanadu, I didn’t want to make any more mistakes.. I agreed to do that film when it was only an idea without à script. I won’t do that again.
“Now there are three or four movie possibilities. The most exciting is with John Travolta” (her co-star in ‘Grease’). “It’s a comedy with music. We’ll play adults this time, not kids. I don’t think we could get away with playing teenagers any more.”
“We’ve been trying to put together another movie since Grease, but nothing good turned up. John developed this story with his own company and we should begin production next year.”
“I haven’t started on another album yet, but I’m going to start writing more songs. This summer MCA is releasing my second ‘Greatest Hits’ album.”
“There’s one other thing in my future, becoming a mother and raising a family. Of course, I plan to be married before I start all that.”