Raquel Welch once headlined Westbury Music Fair shows

Raquel Welch, who gained fame in the 1960s with movies like "Fantastic Voyage," once made her own fantastic voyage to Long Island.

After a string of mostly lackluster movies, Welch, who died Wednesday after a brief illness, was anxious to prove that she was more than just cinematic eye candy. In that vein, she performed a series of concerts throughout the United States in 1976, including a stop at Westbury Music Fair (now NYCB Theatre at Westbury) that June.

Hoping to show her musical range, Welch's set list ran the gamut from pop (Melissa Manchester, Carole King) to disco ("Boogie Fever") to the American Songbook ("The More I See You"). One number that especially stood out was the Latin-flavored "The Coffee Song" in which she sported an outfit that Newsday reviewer Bill Kaufman described as "a Chiquita banana costume."

Though Kaufman said "as a song-and-dance lady, Welch poses no threat to Mitzi Gaynor," other reviewers were more receptive. The New York Times called Welch's show "surprisingly stylish."

Welch had been scheduled to play four shows at the Westbury Music Fair, but had to cancel the final two performances when she learned that her father, Armand Tejada, had died. Rockville Centre-raised entertainer Joey Heatherton filled in for the remaining dates.

As early as 1970, Welch had ventured into the world of music with her TV variety special "Raquel!" in which she sang top 40 hits, including "California Dreamin'" and "The Sound of Silence."

In 1981, she made her Broadway debut filling in for Lauren Bacall in the musical "Woman of the Year" for two weeks. In his review, the Times critic wrote "one hopes that Miss Welch will soon find a musical of her own." She did: the following June, she replaced Bacall.