Bob Ader
Harry Who?: The Songs of Harry Warren
Don’t Tell Mama, NYC, December 10, 2023
Reviewed by Bart Greenberg
Bob Ader offered a salute to composer Harry Warren, the gentlemen who essentially wrote the soundtrack of America from the early Busby Berkeley extravaganzas at Warner Bros, to war time escapist fare at 20th Century Fox, to the final years of the golden age at MGM, and then to some time at Paramount. Ader showed why Warren should be better remembered with his presentation of Harry Who? at Don’t Tell Mama under the smooth direction of Marilyn Spanier, who also happens to be his wife. Salvatore Messano provided the topflight musical arrangements that were performed at the piano by the gifted Elliot Finkel.
Ader seemed determined to bring back a neglected period of show business, and he reached back to the vaudeville era with his singing, tap dancing, imitations of the stars of past era (some more effective than others), old jokes, and piano playing and by simply charming the audience. At times he verged on becoming a slightly less manic Mickey Rooney, but he mostly kept things in check as he jumped from one talent to the next. Happily, Harry Warren never got lost in the shuffle.
By kicking off the show with the famous speech from 42nd Street about the two greatest words in the English language—”musical comedy”—Ader made the entire program show-biz heaven. Much of the music was wisely presented in chronological order, which gave a real sense of Warren’s changing style. Classics from the Depression years—“Lullaby of Broadway,” “I Only Have Eyes for You,”and “About a Quarter to Nine,” along with a very early gem, “I Love My Baby (My Baby Loves Me)” were delivered with great panache. The big-band era, with dandy appropriate arrangements, was celebrated with “I Got a Gal in Kalamazoo” and “Chattanooga Choo Choo,” and a lovely rendition of “You’ll Never Know” on which Ader accompanied himself on piano. Other highlights included a zestful “That’s Amore” and a charming “You Wonderful You.” Ader gave us such a joyful time that it will be fun to see which composer he decides to pay tribute to next.
