Festival Winding Down

by Don A. Metivier, The Post-Star, September 1, 1978

The final week of specials at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center winds up tonight with the first Saratoga appearance of Liza Minnelli.

Monday night, a crowd of more than 6,000 turned out to hear Frank Sinatra, and a disappointing group of about 3,000 was on hand for Tuesday evening’s performance by singer Helen Reddy.

Neil Sedaka returned for a concert on Wednesday and drew 5,088, and singer Gordon Lightfoot was on hand for a concert Thursday night.

Sedaka came on following what has to be the worst warm-up performance in Saratoga Festival history.

A young man named Dean Friedman allegedly sang several songs. The audience obviously first thought it was a joke, but when it became apparent the young man, who has one album out, “No, No, said the Cuckoo Clock,” was serious, became almost hostile. Comments of “is he kidding,” and “not another one,” greeted his singing, and when he announced a “final” song, there was applause.

Following that start, it took Sedaka several songs to get the audience back, but then he was given several standing ovations as he sang many of the songs that have contributed to his “two careers.”

Sedaka was a major rock and roll star in the 1950s, and faded from the national scene during the 1960s.

He made a major comeback in 1970 and has been a front-line performer ever since.

He began writing songs at 13, and is still writing hits, no longer for rock and roll personalities such as Connie Francis, but for the Captain and Tennille.

His early efforts sold more than 25 million records, and he is now again getting hits on the charts, and his new album, to be released in October, has been long-awaited by his fans.

Sedaka is an accomplished piano player. He trained as a concert pianist at the Juilliard School, but it is his singing that draws the fans.

He performed all of his early hits, “Calendar Girl,” “Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen,” and the like, alone at the piano, then was joined by his backup group for his later work.

He still sells a song well, but like most composers, most of his work sounds better when someone else sings it.

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