Dionne does Dearborn

DEARBORN – After four decades in the business, Dionne Warwick shows no signs of slowing down. The legendary lady of song arrives in town this Saturday to kick off the concert season at the Ford Theatre for the Performing Arts in Dearborn with a new show that's wowing audiences from coast to coast and in several other countries, too. Before year's end she'll play Jamaica, Germany and Canada. Then she'll close out the year with a week's worth of Christmas shows in her new Vegas home, the Orleans Hotel & Casino, with whom she's recently inked an exclusive deal.
And the Vegas gig isn't the only deal she's recently inked. In January, Warwick will film a television special commemorating 45 years in the business. The special, Dionne Warwick: 45th Anniversary Spectacular, will be filmed over two nights at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood. Produced by David Gest's newly formed Extreme Entertainment Enterprises, more than 100 famous faces will take place in the all-star tribute.
In addition to the anniversary show, Warwick has just signed a deal with jazz label Concord Records and is currently at work on adding new classics to her considerable repertoire.
"I've been really blessed that I've had two of the most prolific songwriters existing today, and especially from the lyrical part of it all Hal David has and always will write lyrics that speak to your heart, not at it," Warwick said of her career's longevity in a 2003 interview with Between The Lines. "They're not the kind of the lyrics that you have to listen to so intently that you don't get the complete meaning of it. It applies to those who are age 6 to 60 and everything in between. Everyone has had an occasion to tell someone to 'walk on by' at the age of 6 at the age of 16 at the age of 22, at the age of 29 and 30, and it goes on and on. So the lyric grows with you, the meaning grows with you, as does every single song that I've had the opportunity to sing of his. I think those are the lessons that we all learn from music generally. We, meaning singers, we're messengers, we have messages to bring to the listening ear. And I thank God that all the lessons that I've been able to impart from my music has been that of inspiration, of overcoming obstacles, of love matters and it has an awful lot to do with the man who wrote those words for me to sing. Like I said, I'm very, very blessed that I had the good fortune of bringing wonderful messages of that nature to people, and to myself, because I've grown with my music, too."
The blessings abound for Warwick and she certainly does her share of passing them around to others as well. A longtime supporter of AIDS causes, locally Warwick's generosity helped produce last year's annual Christmas AIDS service in Ferndale, which was organized in part by Warwick's longtime friend and employee David Krause. The contribution is but one of countless thousands Warwick has made over the course of her career, a testament to the heart that lies beneath the voice.
"I happen to love what I'm doing and that has a lot to do with it," she said. "And as most people know once they meet me and get to know me, what they see is what they get, 100 percent of the time. Nothing changes, aside from the attire. Everything else remains the same. I'm Dionne Warwick 100 percent of the time."