Itzhak Perlman meets Tex Mex
August 29th, 2008 adminOne of the most unusual entertainment bookings of my career involved the world renowned violinist maestro Itzhak Perlman.
Many years ago, I set up a subscription series for a cultural arts presenter in McAllen, Texas. Additionally, I was responsible for booking the artists and all production. One year, a board member said, “We’d like to have Itzhak Perlman”. At the time I thought to myself, it would be easier to get Moses.
McAllen is located in what Texans called the “Valley” which includes Harlingen, Brownsville and South Padre Island. The population of McAllen in those days was around 90,000. Let’s just say the Valley was not on the touring schedule of any name entertainers. Moreover, the chances that Itzhak Perlman would entertain such a date were zero and none.
It is not in my nature to dodge a challenge. I set about writing an impassioned letter to Itzhak’s manager in New York. My basic pitch was this: Itzhak Perlman has sold out every major venue in every major city in the world multiple times. Why not perform someplace totally different wherein it would affect the lives of people there for a very long span of time. I then went in to detail about the Valley, its uniqueness to Texas, the cultural heritage of the Hispanic society there and so on. I gave it both barrels.
To my amazement, Itzhak bit. the only caveat was that we had to provide a private jet from Dallas to McAllen. That was no problem. Many prominent businessmen and banks were on that board of directors. We made the deal of the century in my view. Itzhak Perlman comes to the Valley. I thought I should have received a Grammy for Booker of the Year for that one.
The day finally arrived and off the plane came Itzhak which was a major chore for him. Once I got him settled at his hotel - the La Quinta of lore and then he said, “John, I’m hungry”. I asked him if had ever had Tex Mex. He had never heard of it. The chef of the hotel whipped up a dozen different dishes of Tex Mex - enchiladas, empanadas, tapas, burritos, chilli relenjo, chalupa, flan and more. The hotel really outdid themselves. Itzhak woofed it down and loved every minute of it. It was a bit surreal to be sitting across from Itzhak Perlman in McAllen eating Tex Mex. But it seemed incredibly natural and he was having a ball with this new food group which Texans are addicted to from an early age.
There’s more. Backstage at the International Civic Center in McAllen (2000 seats), he and I are talking about this and that. What most people don’t know about Itzhak is that he is funny as hell and a totally down to earth guy for being a musical legend worldwide. He then picked up his violin from it’s case and said, “Do you know what this is?” I was pretty sure it was a Stradavarius ($1 million even at that time. He had six in a vault in New York). One’s natural inclination in such a situation is to reach for the item. He then said, “Don’t touch it”. He was half playing with me and half serious.
The show was a solo recital - only Itzhak on stage. It was one of the most electrifying and satisfying performances I had seen anywhere in my three decades as a booker and producer. It was the classical version of that famous line in the movie “Field of Dreams” wherein James Earl Jones says “Shoeless Joe Jackson comes to Iowa”. But in our case, it was Itzhak Perlman comes to the Texas Valley.