Mark Nadler: Does This Room Make My Act Look Big?
Mark Nadler
Does This Room Make My Act Look Big?
Pangea, NYC, November 19, 2016
Reviewed by Marilyn Lester for Cabaret Scenes
Mark Nadler
Photo: Lou Montesano
Mark Nadler is the Energizer Bunny of performers. With boundless energy he unleashes his genius in song, quips and more—and the result is that you will be entertained as you have never been entertained before. This is a good thing, as anyone who’s ever experienced Nadler will tell you. In his residency at Café Noctambulo his shows have been unstructured—made up as he goes along, which means every outing is creatively different. But there is always a liberal amount of passion, shtick, the unexpected and even seriousness. His opener, “Cabaret,” saw him exuberantly singing and playing with full-body gusto. He isn’t one to sit still—swaying, rising, mugging, interrupting himself, addressing the audience, and generally performing in constant motion. It also turns out he tap dances. Who knew? For this segment of the show, a vote was taken and, wouldn’t you know, he winds up dancing to all the requests, which included “Lullaby of Broadway,” “Mr. Bojangles,” “On the Sunny Side of the Street” and a few more.
In the comedy department, Nadler’s timing is impeccable. He is simply funny. Who else could pull off all of the parts of “Cellblock Tango,” inserting Mae West, Bette Davis and Melania Trump into the mix? For John Wallowitch’s “I Live Alone Again” there was a clever 180-degree switcheroo in meaning. Nadler is also eclectic: there were Duke Ellington and Cab Calloway with “Don’t Get Around Much Anymore” (lyrics: Bob Russell) and “Minnie the Moocher” (with Irving Mills), respectively. As a lover of Kurt Weill, Nadler performed “Saga of Jenny” (lyrics: Ira Gershwin), and an exquisite “The Bilbao Song” in German (lyrics: Bertolt Brecht) and English (lyrics: Johnny Mercer). It was in this latter Weill number that Nadler the actor excelled at his ability to empathically enter a lyric and interpret it with deep meaning; you come to realize that he believes every word he’s singing is true. Last, and not by any means least, is serious Nadler. His “straight” rendition of “I Have Dreamed” was not only beautiful and masterful but gave him the opportunity to shine as a fine concert pianist. Ditto the closing number, a vocal of “’S Wonderful” morphing into “Rhapsody in Blue” and concluding with the impossible: Nadler singing the melody of “’S Wonderful” while playing the Rhapsody on the piano. In sum, because he gives 1,000 percent and never holds back, his shows are a certainty to please all but the curmudgeonly.
Category: Cabaret Reviews, New York City, New York City Cabaret Reviews, Regional
