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Dec. 18, 1996 - Virginian Pilot

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``WHERE ARE you calling from?''

``My bathroom,'' replied Louise Mandrell.

Whoa!

``I'm putting on my makeup,'' she said, the smile in her voice apparent, even from faraway Nashville. ``I'm going on the road as soon as I finish talking to you.''

The Christmas road trip brings her to the Norfolk Naval Station for two shows Friday.

If you recall the ``Barbara Mandrell and the Mandrell Sisters'' show, so popular in the '80s, you have a good idea of what to expect: a high-energy production ideal for Mom, Dad and the kids. Nothing blue, just laughs, singing and dancing.

``We'll have a variety of music, a lot of country, Christmas, traditional, gospel,'' Mandrell said. ``We have six dancers. The lead dancer is Pedro Tomas, who was a regular on ``Hee-Haw.''

Baby sister Irlene Mandrell, who was also a regular on that show, is taking a few days off from college for the tour. The Louise Mandrell Christmas Show is fast-paced, not a stand-there-and-sing affair.

``It doesn't dawn on many entertainers,'' Mandrell said, ``but from our shows I learned that people want to be visually entertained.''

Instrumentally, she can entertain with fiddle, piano, banjo, synthesizer, guitar, bass, accordion, drums, mandolin, clarinet and autoharp.

``When I was in grade school, I had a blast,'' Mandrell said. ``Now, I pick up and play whatever I need for the show.''

Next year, most of her entertaining will be done in Pigeon Forge, Tenn., in her own theater.

``Lee Greenwood and T.G Shepard have theaters nearby,'' said Mandrell, who is joining the ranks of country entertainers settling in such places as Myrtle Beach, S.C., and Branson, Mo.

The idea behind having her own theater, a 1,400-seat facility set to open next September, is to continue entertaining, while leading a more stable home life.

``It will keep me off the road, but the biggest reason I'm doing it is that I love production - dancers and so on,'' Mandrell said. ``One thing I can't do while I'm traveling is all those on stage tricks. This way, whatever I dream up, I'll be able to do.'

Mandrell, who in 1991 wrote, produced and starred in the Opryland production ``Love My Country,'' likes keeping busy. She's acted on TV, represented White Rain and marketed her own hair product, TheraPure, and Louise Mandrell's Country Music Trivia Game. She also designs Western wear and is an interior decorator.

Here's some trivia: She collects plates and Shirley Temple memorabilia, and enjoys snow skiing, weight-lifting and aerobics.

A success in Vegas and the Bible Belt, Mandrell has had her own television special and a few special Top 10 hits, including ``Maybe My Baby'' and ``I'm Not Through Loving You Yet.'' She wrote ``The Mandrell Family Album'' plus 16 children's books explaining America's most important holidays.

Somehow, she finds time to help others. Mandrell is involved with 12 different organizations. ``I spend more than 15 hours a week doing charity work,'' she said.

A dinner and show raised $468,000 for the Baptist Hospital in Nashville. She's also raised more than $200,000 for the Boy Scouts via her Louise Mandrell Celebrity Shoot. The third edition will air on TNN Jan. 4.

When it comes to trap, skeet and sporting clays, the performing star is a shooting star. Recently, at the Charlton Heston Celebrity Shoot, Mandrell won Top Woman Celebrity Competitor in Trap, hitting 23 of 25 clay targets.

``I feel fortunate,'' she said. ``I've broken all the rules since I started. I didn't mean to. Still, every year I've been more successful than the year before.''

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