THE COVER STORY

Petula's Special a Ball!

      The star-studded roster for "Petula," an ABC-TV special which will air on Wednesday includes Dean Martin, Peggy Lee, David Frost and the Everly Brothers. After weeks of working together, here's what they had to say about one another and other subjects:

PETULA ON DEAN MARTIN:
     "He's hilarious to work with. He always makes me laugh and we get almost hysterical! But we never know quite what will happen next. Our duets have a habit of finishing up with us falling all over the place, with pillow - fights and anything else that springs into his mind.
      `It's just as well that I have worked with him so many times hecause I now know the Martin routine. You have to get used to it `Everybody else rehearses, but there's no Dean. He comes in when he's finished play in golf! And when he's coming in depends on how the game has gone. Then he just runs through the scenes and numbers once, and that's all that's necessary. He doesn't need long rehearsal. And you know instinctively that his naturalness will make the show a success.

PETULA ON PEGGY LEE:
      "She's unbelievable! I can hardly believe that it's happened - that I'm actually singing with her. I've admired her for so many years and it's almost like a dream coming true to find myself working with her.
      "Singing with Peggy is kind of incredible. It's something new. We make a funny sound together. think Peggy got it right when she turned to me and said: `We sound like four girls instead of two.'."

PETULA ON AUDIENCES:
      "American audiences are probably the best of all. They know who they like and who they don't like. So if they don't like you. they stay away. If they come along to see you they are prepared to give you their support unless you disappoint them." "The French are the complete opposite. They come along not only to see a show but to have an emotional experience! They're restless audiences and like to demonstrate either for you or against you.
      "German audiences are attentive and analytical, whereas Italians (as one might expect) are the most excitable. They stand up and cheer when they hear a note they like. It came as quite a shock to me at first when I hit a high note they appreciated. They got up and shouted and for a moment I thought someone else had come on the stage!"