By Marilyn Lester***The wondrous Sidney Myer was the hottest ticket in town with Sidney Myer Rides Again! during his annual end-of-year residency at Pangea. All performances were SOLD OUT—and with good reason. Just as the lantern-bearing Diogenes roamed the streets of ancient Athens looking for an honest man, a modern cynic might quest eternally for anyone who doesn’t love and adore Sidney. Club manager, booker, actor, singer and entertainer over a decades-long career, he’s piled up fans and 
nothing but stellar reviews and kudos. It wouldn’t be a stretch to imagine, akin to Laurette Taylor, a place in show-biz history; her turn as Amanda Wingfield in the original The Glass Menagerie has been hailed as one of the most exalted portrayals in American theater—ever.
What Meyer offers has been well-catalogued over his decades in the business of show, and it’s a compendium of performance excellence. He’s been called a neo-vaudevillian and cited for distinctive material (a gold mine of a mix of novelty songs and standards). Multitudes who have written of him over the years have noted his droll personality, wit and repartee, and an unusual singing style, as well as his ability to effectively cover a range of moods and emotions in a single set. Myer’s skill at presenting multiple meanings into songs, particularly with double entendre, also so-noted. And then there’s the body language and facial expressions—perhaps the key to his success and adoration; Myer has the rarified ability to express meaning and emotion so deeply and truly that few can compare. Package all of these observations and acclaim into a single word, and unique rises to the top.
A perfect, sweet opener for Sidney Myer Rides Again! was the 1958 tune introduced by Marlene Dietrich, “I May Never Go Home Anymore” (Ralph A. Roberts, Jack Brooks), followed by t
he ultimate in novelty songs by satirist Phillip Namanworth, “I’m Perfect;” imagine a delivery by Mabel Mercer with a comedic twist. And could the great wit Ogden Nash be excluded? Of course not, hence “That’s Him,” with music by Kurt Weill, into which Myer injected saucy spice, as he did with “Santa Baby” (Joan Javits, Phillip Springer) with parody lyrics added by Myer.
A mid-set change of pace came with the 1879 “The Kerry Dance,” by Irish composer James Molloy. It’s been, over the years, erroneously performed as an Irish folk tune in the lilting jig style (it was even jazzified by pianist Art Tatum). Myer drilled down to the original intent: a ballad of great feeling and sentimentality. With a beautiful flute introduction by music director-pianist Tracy Stark, Myer delivered the piece as a story song, banishing the specter of Leprechauns, and sticking true to Molloy’s core Celtic-based melody. His interpretation and delivery was a tour de force of storytelling.
Powering toward the end of the set, Myer brought the mood u
p with the hilarious “Pheromones” (Joan Cushing) and his endearingly naughty “It’s So Nice to Have a Man Around the House” (Harold Spina, Jack Elliott), and his trademark tune, “Good Advice” by the evergreen master of parodies Allan Sherman (with music by Lou Busch). Throughout, Stark’s arrangements and the rhythms and beats of bassist Skip Ward and drummer David Silliman deftly supported Myer’s vocals.
Sidney Myer Rides Again! was also full of witty, well-paced, humorous narrative, but when it came to its conclusion, the show was seriously all heart: Cole Porter’s good advice in “True Love” and Paul Horner and Peggy Lee’s wish for us all in “Angels on Your Pillow.” Is it any wonder that the incomparable and matchless Sidney Myer is so beloved.
Photos by Lou Montesano
