David Cassidy in the News
C'mon Get Happy!
Cassidy tours for first time in 10 years
April 27, 2001
By Robert DiGiacomo
At The Shore Atlantic City, NJ
David Cassidy, on tour for the first time in a decade, doesn't mind singing his umpteenth rendition of his first hit "I Think I Love You."
The former "Partridge Family" star says he's come to terms with the music - and the role - that 30 years ago made him a household name, and typecast him as a teen heartthrob.
"I've gotten way past it," says Cassidy, who in the 1970-74 series played son Keith Partridge to real-life stepmother Shirley Jones. "It was difficult for me for a long, long time. I was so identified with that character on the show. You have to be resilient and have the determination and the belief in yourself that the opportunity will come - whether it comes in the form of a Broadway show or film.
"Whatever it is, it's really about the work. I love to work and love the connection bringing light to people's lives. That's why I do it. It's never been about fame or money. If you do good work, that other part will come."
Some three decades post-"Partridge," having enjoyed success in other TV roles, the Broadway stage and several long-running Las Vegas revues, Cassidy is ready to give the fans a generous dose of 1970s-style "Get Happy."
"I'm very proud of the work, very proud of the fact that it's been so successful and enabled me to have so much in my life," says Cassidy by phone from his Las Vegas home. "When I go back and sing songs from that era, it's a celebration. For me, I embrace it. I just wanted to do other work and show I was capable of doing other work.
"It's giving me a great perspective leaving it for a while and coming back to it. I'm not tired of singing the songs. It's real fresh. I get to come back and look at the material again after 10 years and go, 'Wow, these are great songs.' "
Cassidy is appearing this weekend at the Showboat as part of the casino's new emphasis on headline entertainment. His decision to tour again was fueled by the success of an engagement last fall at Harrah's Atlantic City, whose parent company also owns the Showboat.
"It was a very momentous occasion," Cassidy recalls. "Because of the response, it really convinced me (to tour). In my heart, I knew it was the right direction to go. Fortunately, the business side said it was the right direction to go. It's all fine and good. If nobody wants to book you, it's another story."
This weekend, Cassidy will catch audiences up on his musical work since his time as a teen idol: stints on Broadway in "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" and "Blood Brothers," co-starring with his half-brother Shaun; and his more recent long-term engagements in Las Vegas in "EFX," "David Cassidy at the Copa" (co-starring Sheena Easton), and "The Rat Pack Is Back!"
"I wouldn't have to (sing 'I Think I Love You') if I didn't want to - I do it because I love it," says Cassidy, who twice has been named Best All Around Performer by the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
"I have 19 albums worth of material, 25 million records I've sold. I'm picking the greatest songs for me and for the audience."
Also on the set list will be some new material that Cassidy hopes to record later this year. Even with the challenge of getting radio play, he has confidence he can once again scale the charts, in his case, the Adult Contemporary listings.
"I wouldn't want to define it for you now, but it certainly would be contemporary - the essence of me musically speaking, great lyrics, great melodies, great songs," Cassidy says. "If you're worth your salt, anyone should be able to make that successful. ... I have a very good fan base. They want me to make records, and they want me to record. Hopefully, if the stars are all aligned, it will work out."
Cassidy, who has done only a handful of movies for the big screen, is also close to signing a deal for an offbeat film that's been in development for the past 18 months.
"It's a great sort of edgy satire on the disillusionment of a Las Vegas performer," he says. "He thinks he's really big time, but he's really not. It's very edgy, very funny, it's got some darkness to it, too."
The role, although not based on Cassidy's own experiences, certainly hits close to home. He spent much of the latter half of the 1990s starring in shows at Las Vegas casinos.
Performing "just in Las Vegas is a wonderful thing - a great platform for people to come and see me," Cassidy says. "Millions of people have seen me here. They come from all over the world. At the same time, in all due respect - I respect Siegfried and Roy and Wayne Newton - but I don't see myself as that. I've been a guy who internationally has been successful, both as an actor and an entertainer and a producer."
As much as he enjoys the spotlight, Cassidy - the son of the late actor Jack Cassidy and actress Evelyn Ward - takes great satisfaction in his behind-the-scenes role as producer and co-writer of "The Rat Pack Is Back!"
The long-running revue at the Sahara in Las Vegas co-stars Sinatra sound-alike Steve Lippia as the Chairman of the Board. But, Cassidy emphasizes, the production is not intended as merely a showcase for impersonators of Rat Pack figures like Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr., but a drama about the era. And Cassidy, who plays the late Bobby Darin occasionally, approaches his role very much as an acting opportunity.
"I do it as an actor, I don't do an impersonation of him - it's a play," Cassidy says. "I was a big Darin fan, and he had a great influence on me. He was the last guy crossing over from pop and rock 'n' roll.
"I have had the good fortune of listening to a lot of great music from my parents. Bobby Darin was the only artist my dad and I both agreed on. He kind of bridged our generation. It really celebrates the whole era."
After spending much of the latter-1990s doing eight shows a week, 46 weeks a year, Cassidy is more than ready to move on to the next era of his career.
"If you don't love the work, the substance of it, it's a short career," he says. "If you don't have the goods ... it disappears. One of the things I'm most proud of is my work is acknowledged as much as my fame or my looks. I feel really blessed. I'm a lucky guy."
