OK, maybe "opening" is a stretch, seeing as how there's roughly a day and a half between sets, but the Highland Park venue will bring the Tonys the closest they've come to sharing a stage since Mr. B. invited Mr. A. to open for him in Chicago two decaded ago.
Andriacchi (whose "American Songbook" salute starts at 4:15 p.m. Sunday) was on a roll then, wowing them in the hottest nightspots of the Second City scene, including the Park West, Playboy Club and Ritz Carlton, while piling up critical accolades.
"The best these ears have heard," gushed After Dark's Jeff Rossen. Variety declared him "a good bet for continued success," while Chicago critic Aaron Gold observed that Andriacchi "keeps the usually noisy lounge crowd in you-could-hear-a-pin-drop-silence."
By the time Bennett dropped in to hear what all the fuss was about, Andriacchi had officially reached the top of the heap, headlining at Chicago's famed Pump Room.
"He stayed for the whole show," Andriacchi recalled. "And then he hung out for another hour and a half just talking with me about the current music scene and stuff."
During the bull session, Bennett extended two invitations: one to open one of his shows here and the other to submit demos for a new record label he was planning to launch. (The label, unfortunately, never got off the ground, effectively ending their prospective partnership).
"By that time, I'd reached a point where I had to make a big decision regarding my career," Andriacchi said.
"As great as things were going for me, I knew that in order to move beyond the level I was at, I'd have to leave town for New York or L.A., but I really didn't want to leave my family and friends behind. I wasn't ready to leave home."
Instead, Andriacchi opted for a lateral move, accepting a year's engagement at the Sabre Room in Hickory Hills, mesmerized by its "big, gargantuan show lounge and a stage that was made in heaven."
The money was good, the applause was constant and by his own admission, the song stylist was "very comfortable," so much so that he agreed to extend his contract from one year to five, thereby sowing the seeds to his own self-destruction.
"By 1988, I'd had it, I was completely burned out," he said.
When Andriacchi hired his former band from the Pump Room days to play at his mother Nancy's 80th birthday party in 2002, keyboardist Peter Polzak suggested that the good son surprise his mom with a rendition of the Sinatra classic, "Nancy (With the Laughing Face)."
"I told him that there was no way, that part of my life was over," Andriacchi said, before accepting the challenge and rediscovering his muse.
"It all came back, like I never stopped singing, and I realized that this was what I was meant to do."
After that, Andriacchi, who teamed up with Polzak for "Old Friends," his CD debut, recorded "Singin' and Swingin' the Standards," and "Songbirds," an in-concert recording that pays tribute to top-notch American songstresses, from "Lady Day" to Striesand.
When he was away from the stage, Andriacchi busied himself by giving piano lessons, opening a memorabilia shop and working as a general manager at several Loews Theaters. But he has quit his day jobs to accommodate an increasingly demanding concert schedule.
"My goal these days is to find things that are creatively challenging to me and look good on my resume," Andriacchi said. "Like playing at Ravinia."
No comments:
Post a Comment