Ron
Foreman WKRB-FM "Sweet Sounds"
and
"Corine's Corner"
What a CRAZY IDEA, but what a GREAT
SHOW, Mark Nadler’s Crazy 1961 opened
Thursday evening at the Laurie Beecham Theater on 407 West 42nd St.
In a tour-de-force, Mark packs
61 interesting facts and 61 songs into this very fast and very funny show. 1961
was the year that Mark Nadler was born, but it also was the year that JFK took
office, the Bay of Pigs disaster took place and Kennedy sent advisers to
Vietnam. But it was also the year that The Beatles and Bob Dylan began their
careers, Judy Garland did her Carnegie Hall Concert, Barbie met Ken and Fritos
made their debut.
The 61 songs are from films and Broadway
shows that opened in 1961 including songs from hit shows such as How To Succeed In Business Without Really
Trying and Carnival. He
also includes some really great songs from failed productions including a
particularly moving version of Ordinary
People from a flop show with a wonderful score by Richard Adler, Kwamina. Nadler closes the show
with an almost unbelievable medley of the top 50 songs of the year, put
together in a cohesive, extremely funny and musical manner. In truth there are
62 songs because Nadler’s encore is a beautiful version of the Oscar winning song Moon River.
Mark Nadler and the four very talented
musicians who back him up will appear at the Laurie Beecham Theater for three
more shows; December 8,11 and 15.