Nadler's 'Russian on the Side' to Play Royal George

Before heading to Broadway, Mark Nadler will bring his one-man comedy-in-music adventure, Russian on the Side, to the Royal George Theatre Mainstage, 1641 North Halsted Street in Chicago, for a limited eight-week engagement, April 30 - June 15, 2008.  (Previews begin April 22).  The official press opening is scheduled for Wednesday, April 30 at 7:30 p.m.  

"In Russian on the Side, Mark Nadler takes audiences on a zany 90-minute journey from Stravinsky to Sondheim.  Filled with music from celebrated American songwriters of the twentieth century such as Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein, Cole Porter, and Ira Gershwin, Nadler tickles the ivories and dishes scintillating gossip about some of the world's greatest composers," press notes state.  Following a second out-of-town engagement in the late summer, Russian on the Side will receive its Broadway premiere this fall.

Nadler starred in and co-wrote the off-Broadway Gershwin revue, American Rhapsody, which was nominated for a 2001 Drama Desk and two Lucille Lortel Awards and received the Manhattan Association Of Cabarets (MAC) Award for Outstanding Musical Revue. Regularly appearing at New York City's landmark cabaret The Algonquin, Nadler created and starred in over a dozen shows based on the great American Songbook. He has received four MAC awards for Outstanding Musical Comedy Performer and was awarded the Backstage Bistro Award for "Continuing to Raise the Standards of Cabaret Performance" (2003), as well as Outstanding Singer/Instrumentalist and Outstanding Direction.

Nadler has performed at Carnegie Hall with the New York Pops Orchestra, New York City's Town Hall, and has been a soloist with the Baltimore, Indianapolis and Oregon Symphonies as well as, The National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa.  He has played in almost every significant nightclub in both New York City and Los Angeles, and has performed abroad in England, Ireland, Scotland, France, Belgium, Holland and Australia.  On Broadway, Nadler appeared as "The Fingers on the Keys" in Dame Edna: The Royal Tour and as "Pinky Pickles" in The Sheik of Avenue 'B,' as well as numerous productions off-Broadway and regionally.  He also co-wrote, directed and starred in The Nose Knows, a tribute to Jimmy Durante for the "Reel to Real" series at Lincoln Center and arranged and coached Glenn Close's performance of "Bye Bye Blackbird" for the 1985 film Maxie.

The Broadway-bound production of Russian on the Side is directed by Mark Waldrop, whose credits include Bea Arthur On Broadway and the Drama Desk award-winning off-Broadway revue, When Pigs Fly, for which he also provided book and lyrics. Mr. Waldrop most recently directed Into the Woods at Seattle's 5th Avenue Theater; Romeo & Bernadette (New Jersey's Paper Mill and Miami's Coconut Grove Playhouses); Gypsy starring Betty Buckley (Paper Mill) and again, starring Judy Kaye (at the 5th Avenue); Adventures in Love (St. Paul's Ordway Theater) ; and Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella (Maryland's Olney Theater.)  At the MUNY in St. Louis, he directed Damn Yankees and a record-breaking production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.  Mr. Waldrop also served as production supervisor and contributed special material for Bette Midler's Divine Miss Millennium Tour. As a lyricist Mr. Waldrop is the proud recipient of the Edward Kleban Award.

Russian on the Side is being produced by Michael Alden, recent Tony Award® nominee for Grey Gardens (Best Musical 2007).  Other credits include Bridge & Tunnel (2006 Special Tony Award®), Bad Dates at The Laguna Playhouse (directed by Judith Ivey), and Palm Beach at The La Jolla Playhouse (directed by Des McAnuff). In 2001 Alden produced Bat Boy: The Musical at the Union Square Theater in New York (2001 Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Musical, and Drama Desk-nominee), which went on to a West End run at the Shaftesbury Theatre in London.  His other stage credits include the Off-Broadway production of Spalding Gray: Stories Left to Tell, and Save it for the Stage: The Life of Reilly, written and starring Tony Award® -winner Charles Nelson Reilly.  Mr. Alden has also enjoyed great success as a film producer, having produced the award winning UnZipped (1995), The Hours (2002) starring Nicole Kidman, and under his own production banner, the hit comedy Kissing Jessica Stein (2001).  Michael Alden Productions is in development on the romantic comedy film At Long Last Love directed by Jerry Zaks. For the stage, Mr. Alden is preparing the Broadway premiere of Palm Beach directed by Des McAnuff, and Geraldine Aaron's London hit, My Brilliant Divorce directed by Jerry Zaks.

The performance schedule for Russian on the Side, April 22 - June 15, is as follows:  Tuesdays - Thursdays at 7:30 p.m., Fridays at 8 p.m., Saturdays at 5 p.m. & 9 p.m., and Sundays at 3 p.m. & 5:30 p.m.  Special Wednesday matinees are scheduled for May 14, May 28, and June 11 at 2 p.m., and will replace Tuesday night performances those weeks.  There will be a Monday night performance on June 2 at 7:30 p.m.  There will be no performances on April 27 and June 7.  

Tickets, priced from $34.50 to $55.00, will go on sale Friday, March 14 at 10 a.m., via the Royal George Theatre Box Office, by calling 312-988-9000 or online at Ticketmaster.com.  Discounts are available for groups of 10 or more by calling Group Theater Tix at 312-423-6612.  

For more information please visit www.RussianOnTheSideOnline.com.  

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