More Than a Beauty

Singer Susan Anton will headline a nostalgic slice of musical Americana on Sunday afternoon at the Civic Arts Plaza in Thousand Oaks. Anton will sing some of her favorites originally recorded by a variety of artists, including Frank Sinatra, Aretha Franklin and Marc Cohn, all backed by her band of 20 years.

Anton, a beauty queen who became a blond bombshell actress in the 1970s, has had a successful singing career, mostly in Las Vegas.

Also on Sunday’s bill are the Crew Cuts, who will sing some doo-wop, including their biggie “Sh-Boom.” John Mills, the son of Donald Mills from the original group, will lead the newest generation of the legendary Mills Brothers, which has a history that stretches back to 1922. Also performing are the De Marche Sisters and the Bill Tole Big Band.

Anton was raised in a small farming community near San Bernardino, and on a dare, she entered a beauty contest, winning the Miss California title. After discovering a fondness for the stage, she decided on a career in show business.

Anton became well-known in the mid-1970s as the Muriel Cigar Girl, then made several feature films such as “Goldengirl” and “Making Mr. Right.” She has appeared in numerous television shows, including a three-year stint on “Baywatch.” Anton is also known for her charity work with the Special Olympics, the American Cancer Society and Pediatric AIDS.

Anton has toured with stars from Sinatra to Kenny Rogers. She is also about to release a new live recording, “One Night.” This will be her first appearance in Thousand Oaks.

What can people expect from this show?

Well, I think it’s going to be fun. It’s music I’ve enjoyed doing for a long time in different venues through the years, so it’s kind of like “going home” in a funny sort of way. I’ve dug out all the charts I have. I toured with Sinatra for a summer, so I have a lot of Sinatra-esque material like “Come Fly With Me,” “I’ve Got You Under My Skin,” “Come Rain Or Come Shine,” “Someone To Watch Over Me”--just a lot of stuff like that.

How would you account for the continuing popularity of Big Band music?

I think good music is always good music. Even if you look at the classics; you know, Beethoven’s been around for a pretty long time, too. I think when you come upon something that’s just good, there’s always a place for that. It’s like the Beatles still being around after all these years. I know the music from the Big Band era has a special place in my heart. It’s the music my mom and dad met and fell in love to, and it was the music that was on in the house when I was a young girl growing up, so it evokes a lot of really treasured memories for me. When I sing it, I feel their youth.

What’s “One Night” going to be like?

“One Night” is altogether different. I did a show for Radio City Productions for the last 7 1/2 years. We were on the road, then we were in Vegas, and for all those years I pretty much didn’t get to do my stuff, because I was doing what was right for the show. So when the Radio City show finally closed, I called all the guys in my band, which I’ve had for about 20 years, and asked them to just get together, reconnect and do some simple, low-profile, no big deal music that we love to do. Let’s do a little unplugged, some of the acoustic stuff and not worry about anybody’s opinion. We got an eight-night run at the Cinegrill in L.A., and it was great. We had the best time, and the audiences were loving it and we got a great review in the L.A. Times. So the last night, the last show--one take--we did a live recording of it and it will be released March 27.

How is your preparation different for acting as opposed to music?

It’s altogether different, because in a movie you’re playing a character and so your work is spent investigating that character and how it fits into the show. In Vegas, it’s just selecting the material because it’s just you up there, so I always try to find material that I can relate to in a personal way. I can sing a song, but I can also share a story as to why that music is in the show. So it’s more personal, it’s more me than a character.

How did winning Miss California in 1969 change things for you?

It’s hard to know, because I’d have to go back and replay my life. . . . I don’t know if I would’ve had the nerve to go into show business. It’s what I always wanted to do, but I’m from a very small town. The whole Miss California thing was all on a dare from my high school boyfriend. I loved to sing, so I decided that I would go ahead and do this. I won and I went on to the Miss America pageant where I was second runner-up, and by that time, I really loved being onstage and I realized that instead of going to college to become a nursery school teacher, I wanted to try show business. It provided me the opportunity to decide that this is what I wanted to do with my life.

How did you end up as the Muriel Cigar Girl?

That was a national campaign. Edie Adams had always been associated with the product, and when it was time for her to step down, Consolidated Cigars launched a national campaign to find the new spokesperson. They auditioned hundreds and hundreds of girls from all over the United States. It came down to three girls and we each did our own commercial and the public literally voted on the spokesperson they wanted, and I was fortunate to be the one who won. That was back when Muriel Cigars sponsored the NFL pregame show on CBS. So it was really a huge platform to be in those commercials, and it pretty much got the ball rolling for me.

Tell me a “Baywatch” story.

“Baywatch” was great. My husband, who was an actor at the time, had written a script. I went down to visit him and the producers asked me if I wanted to play a recurring part. A few months later they called me and said they had written my character, which was to be Jackie Quinn. It was the most fun. I’d get up at 5, drive down to the beach and watch the sun come up. It’s not like we were doing “Macbeth” doing “Baywatch,” so there wasn’t any wrenching kind of performance stuff. We were just kind of hanging out at the beach, then at the end of the day, we’d go home.

What’s the most misunderstood thing about Susan Anton?

The most common comment . . . is “Oh Wow! You really do sing.” I think unfortunately through stereotypes based on one’s appearance, people are not judged on their ability. So when people look a certain way and they can actually do something, many people aren’t expecting that.

So what’s next for you?

I really don’t know. I ask myself that question every day, and I really don’t know. I celebrated my 50th birthday in October, and there’s a lot of possibilities for people this age. It’s not like it used to be. So, I’ll keep doing my shows and singing my songs, and hopefully, whatever is supposed to be next will just show up, and I’ll say, “Oh, there it is.” In the meantime, I’ll just keep doing the stuff I know and love.

So is it great to be tall?

Well, it’s the only thing I’ve known, so yeah. I look now at all the young girls who are tall and I realize that it’s not so unusual now. But when I was growing up, I didn’t see too many girls as tall as I was. I’m 5 feet 11 and when I put on my shoes, I’m 6 feet and up.

DETAILS

Susan Anton and the Big Band Beat with the Crew Cuts, the Mills Brothers, the DeMarche Sisters and the Bill Tole Big Band at the Civic Arts Plaza, 2100 E. Thousand Oaks Blvd., Thousand Oaks, Sunday, 2 p.m. COST: $36.50, $31.50 or $21.50. CALL: 449-2787.

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Legendary folk singer Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, with stories to tell and songs to sing, will appear at the Backlot Theatre in Thousand Oaks Saturday night. With tickets set at a pricey $35, expect Elliott to be rambling to the bank Monday morning.

Elliott has had a life as a consummate road dog, both as a singer and a rodeo performer who also found time to hang out with Woody Guthrie, James Dean and Jack Kerouac, among others. He is often credited with influencing Bob Dylan.

President Clinton presented him with a National Medal of the Arts, the nation’s highest honor for an artist, and Elliott won a Grammy in 1996. While folk music may change, Elliott has not.

“There’s a lot of new people doing folk music these days, and they call themselves singer/songwriters,” he said. “Most of them are women, but they aren’t like any kind of women I used to know. Most of them hate men.

“There’s a lot of new talent out there, but I don’t like most of it. Now it’s who can play the most notes per second and sing the most unintelligible words, like that punk rock. I couldn’t ever warm up to those people wearing clothespins in their noses, piercing their nipples and dressing up like some extraterrestrial beings. You can see where their hair is, but not their brains.”

DETAILS

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott at the Backlot Theatre, 1408 E. Thousand Oaks Blvd., Thousand Oaks, Saturday, 7:30 p.m. COST: $35. CALL: 497-8606.

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Y’ALL, a quirky duo out of Nashville by way of New York, will bring its brand of insurgent country music to the Unitarian Universalist Church in Ventura on Saturday night. Y’ALL is a guitar and ukulele cross-dressing country folk team with nine years of experience, seven albums so far, plus a hardback biography to their credit.

James Dean Jay Bird will be the bald guy wearing the dress and StevenCheslik-DeMeyer will be the one not in a dress. The lucky green dress itself was a gift from an uncle who advised Bird, “You can’t never tell what might happen to you if folks have a reason to stare.”

There will doubtless be plenty of staring, but Y’ALL is more than just a couple of strange cowboys--these guys can really sing. They have a vast resume and have even opened for a wide variety of players including roots rockers the Old 97s. They call their stuff “old time country music for the 21st century” or “the new fashion in old time entertainment.”

DETAILS

Y’ALL at Unitarian Universalist Church, 4949 Foothill Road, Ventura, Saturday, 7 p.m. COST: $10 adults or $5 children. CALL: 659-0072.