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Russian on the Side
Written and Performed by Mark Nadler
Produced by Michael Alden and Karen Lotman
At The Royal George Theatre Center
1641 N. Halsted
Chicago, IL
Tickets: 412-988-9000 or www.ticketmaster.com $34.50 - $55
Tue-Thu at 7:30, Fri at 8:00, Sat at 5:00 & 9:00, Sun at 3:00 and 7:00, Wed matinees May 14th, May 28th and June 11th at 2:00 (replaces Tue evening performance), and Mon, June 2nd at 7:30, (no performance June 7th)
Running time is 1 hour 45 minutes with no intermission
Through June 15th
Meet the Russians
Mark Nadler’s Broadway-bound one-man show, now playing at Royal George Theatre Center is a quirky and at times hilarious showcase for the marvelously talented Mr. Nadler. It is accurately billed as a comedy-in-music adventure with a professor-like Nadler taking the audience through an erudite Russian Music 101 survey of 49 composers, all of whom are named in an Ira Gershwin show tune lyric. You certainly won’t know all of the composers, but you don’t have to in order to enjoy the humor – the show is remarkable accessible – and as an added bonus you will be able to fill in some of those seldom visited dark nooks in your trivia brain.
Mark Nadler is one incredibly talented guy. His technique and range as a pianist, his vocal prowess and his credentials as a comic are undeniably proven in the first 15 minutes of the show. If Russian on the Side has a problem this is it. A bit too much of the hour and 45 minutes seems devoted to Nadler’s desire to wow the audience with his virtuoso skills. It’s overkill; and it’s a rapid-fire overkill at the expense of allowing the audience a bit of time to kick back and enjoy Nadler’s exceptionally fine classical pianist skills. When they are finally allowed to hear a bit longer number, it is Nadler, the show tune pianist, who steals the stage with campy numbers that are part cheesy lounge act imitation and part Groucho Marx. It’s very funny, but leaves classical music lovers annoyingly unsatisfied.
Russian on the Side is bound to remind those of you over 40 of other comedians who have put their considerable music talents to work in service of their humor: Jack Benny, Henny Youngman, Victor Borge, or my personal favorite, the lesser known Buffalo Bob Smith, to name a few. It is doubtful that any of them were finer musicians that Nadler and none that I can think of had his acrobatic voice, but they all developed a persona that audiences loved. Nadler does not reveal much either in terms of himself or in terms of alter ego. This is perhaps unfair criticism as the others used the vehicle as the central axis of their entire careers and Russian on the Side is but one piece in a much wider context for Nadler. Still, there is a lack of character development that makes Russian on the Side a bit sterile, a bit cold, a bit mechanical.
What Russian on the Side does have that others do not is Mark Nadler’s incredible energy. He runs a marathon over, under and around his only prop, the piano, while delivering a scholarly dissertation on Russian composers and their relationship to 20th century American music. And he does this playing the piano all the while. The show is so fast that Nadler sometimes appears to be in two places at once and the whole thing builds to thundering conclusion as he prepares the audience to sing along with the Ira Gershwin lyric that rhymes those impossible Russian names. It is camp; it is funny and it is an interesting new take on a well-worn genre. By the end of the show, the sweat is flying off Nadler and the audience is on its feet in resounding approval. It is unusual to compliment a comedian on his athleticism, but I can think of no other word to describe the orgasmic conclusion of Russian on the Side. It may not be a totally original piece, but Mark Nadler is someone that you really must see.
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Randy Hardwick
randyontheglobe@yahoo.com for comments
Date Reviewed: April 30, 2008
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