A weekend of contrasts at the Red Robinson Show Theatre with Randy Travis on Friday night and Mr. Warmth, Don Rickles on Saturday night.  Both shows sold out.

Randy Travis has been an important country artist for three decades. I couldn’t help notice his weight. I commented that he is the thinnest celebrity I had ever met with the one exception: actor Kevin Bacon. He may be physically thin but a definite heavyweight in the annals of country music.

Don Rickles was most entertaining and a class act. We talked about Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, Johnny Carson and others who always appeared on stage dressed accordingly with respect for the audience. He has disdain for many young comedic artists who use four-letter words, as he says, in place of good humor. Don autographed his a new book for me. The inscription reads: “To Red, have someone read this to you.”

They charted thirteen memorable hits between 1980 and 1986, and Air Supply is still active and sounding better than ever. They came to the Red Robinson Show Theatre and didn’t let their fans down. The audience at the “Red” sang along with their biggest hit, The One That You Love.

I interviewed them a couple of years ago when they appeared at the PNE. Russell Hitchcock from Melbourne, Australia and Graham Russell from Nottingham, England (wasn’t Robin Hood from Nottingham?) appeared together in the Australian production of Jesus Christ Superstar and put a band together shortly after.

Their big break came when they opened for Rod Stewart during his Oz  tour and then they joined him for his North American tour. The two have great harmony on  and off the stage. They are also considerate gentlemen. They are  welcome to come back anytime.