Sedaka’s seal of approval

Laughter in the Rain, Opera House, Manchester

THEY said Neil Sedaka would never be a rock star because he smiled too much. How wrong could they be.

Now he can look back on a 50-year career, and a show which plays the biography of his life like a familiar tune.

This Bill Kenwright touring show got the seal of approval from the man himself at the first night in Manchester.

Neil Sedaka joined the crowds in the stalls — there were no spare seats to be had — with his wife, son and daughter in law.

He signed autographs and smiled for photographs, and the adoring audience clapped, swayed and sang along to all the old favourites — “Oh Carol”, “Calendar Girl”, “Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen”.

It must have been a bit tough for leading man Wayne Smith with a living legend in the audience, but he pulled off a coup. Not only did he look and sound like Sedaka, he got a congratulatory hug from the great singer-songwriter and a chance to duet with him on stage.

Neil Sedaka could have been a classical pianist, he was a child prodigy who won a scholarship to the Julliard School in New York, where he grew up surrounded by his mother, sister, and three aunts — poor dad was upstaged by the women and his wife’s lover.

But a collaboration with Neil and lyricist Howard Greenfield produced the songs which became legendary. He wrote “Stupid Cupid” for Connie Francis, “Amarillo” for Tony Christie, and Frank Sinatra crooned “The Hungry Years”.

There hasn’t been a decade since the 50s withouta Sedaka song.

This biography-musical is from the same stable as many of Bill Kenwright’s other successes with Billy Fury, Elvis, and other rock greats. But, as Bill Kenwright said on stage to the audience, it is the most joyous, not only because Sedaka is still around after 50 years in show business.

No-one can sing one of his songs without having a smile on their face, and Sedaka always bounced back — Wayne Smith describes his early successes, the wilderness years when British pop groups like the Beatles eclipsed his stellar career, the years writing for other people to sing, the crooked manager (his mother’s lover) who left him penniless, and how Manchester played a pivotal part in his renaissance.

He recorded one of his most popular hits, “Solitaire”, at Manchester’s Strawberry Studios with four musicians who went on to form 10cc.

Last night’s excellent musicians, an energetic cast and scenes from Sedaka’s life projected behind the stage as a backdrop are the only setting needed. The music says it all, very eloquently.