Review: Mark Nadler Tells the Truth in Virtuosic THE OLD RAZZLE DAZZLE: AN EVENING OF LIES, LYING AND LIARS at The Laurie Beechman Theatre

Ladies and Gentlemen (and Everyone Else),

Want to buy some illusions? They may not be true, but I promise that they're real. And as sold by that debonair devil of the keys, the incomparable Mark Nadler in his scintillating new show, The Old Razzle Dazzle: an evening of Lies, Lying and Liars, dishonesty has never been so delicious.

From his first entrance, marching across the stage of the Laurie Beechman theatre, tipping a hat and staring down his audience with mischievous flair, Nadler knows your secret (also the secret of the guy to your left and the girl to your right): we as a people are incapable of being honest. "Tonight," he proudly proclaims, "Every single thing I'm going to tell you is a lie." And as a matter of discourse, naturally, he will be right; but not without a great deal of fun (and a great deal of truth) along the way.

Long one of cabaret's most celebrated artists, Mark Nadler, equal parts singer-pianist-tap dancer-comedian-satirist and all around virtuoso has, through a dizzying assemblage of one man shows, forged an international career as Showman of a remarkable one ring circus.

With the playfully sarcastic wit of Willy Wonka and a robust voice that recalls classic era singers like Jolson and Durante, Nadler shrewdly understands the power of entertainment to gauzily shield and ultimately reveal our most personal truths. And with The Old Razzle Dazzle, like a sleight of hand magician, he uses music to point and illuminate our every trickery.

Whether sitting, standing, leaping or even soft shoeing behind the baby grand, Nadler's mind (with the help of some topical headlines) is a constantly unfolding puzzle-box of observation.

No angle here goes un-explored. From the lies we are fed in childhood, by politicians, our lovers and ourselves, Nadlar explores his themes with equal parts canny (and hilarious) insight and earnest heartfelt vulnerability and, all throughout, with astonishing musicality.

Tunes like Burton Lane and Alan Jay Lerner's "How Could you Believe Me When I Said I Love You?" and Buck Ram's bluesy "The Great Pretender" provide a natural field for Nadler's storyland of charming fakes. A jaunty look back at school yard favorites may forever change the way you take in the magic of Walt Disney.

And with a blending of Alan Menken's "Lie to Me" and Grand and Boyd's classic ballad "Guess Who I Saw Today" (Nadler, by the way, is too smart to let the familiar punchline of the latter be his ultimate conclusion) and most especially, a wistful take on Francesca Blumenthal's "The Lies of Handsome Men," Nadler reveals self deception to a be a complicated dance between cynicism and hopeful optimism.

Lies, it would seem, have no limit in their scope, and by the time Nadar reaches his finale of The Old Razzle Dazzle (performed with joyous, rapid fire ticker-tape precision) you might be asking yourself, what's the harm? Does it all really matter or is deception simply our own form of societal entertainment?

Of course, the truth is: we want to believe the lies that consume so much of our waking days. After all, what is the truth but a tale repeated long enough until it becomes real? And as Nadler, with a Faustian wink, knows all too well, the only danger in illusion is when we actually buy it.

Mark Nadler: The Old Razzle Dazzle: an evening of Lies, Lying and Liars plays at the Laurie Beechman Theatre (at the West Bank Café) October 23 at 7:00 PM and October 30 at 9:30 PM. For tickets click here

For more on Mark Nadler visit his website at www.marknadler.com

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