Singer, songwriter, dancer, actor, and two-time BroadwayWorld Award winner Mark William returned to The Green Room 42 on Saturday, May 10, for a one-night-only performance and livestream of Technicolor Dreams 2.0, the second installment of his critically acclaimed 2022 concert. Featuring a set list of standards from musical theater and the movies, pop hits, and his own original compositions, personal direct-address commentary between songs, and his signature smooth-as-satin vocals, impressive range from baritone to bass, resonant long notes and breath control, and expressive embodiment of the lyrics, characters, and mini-narratives of his meaningful selections, the show, under the engaging direction of Preston and Richard Ridge, was ‘Marked’ by a combination of vintage influences and youthful presence that affirms his pitch-perfect status as THE crooner of a new generation.
Accompanied by a swinging six-piece band (Olivia Hughart on sax, Jane Sycks on trumpet, David Cinquegrana on guitar, Sam Zerna on bass, Jonathan Ward on drums, and musical director Matthew Lowy – who composed the opening Overture – on piano), the ever-debonair William, in a glittering pink suit and sheer black cut-out shirt, took the packed house (which included Broadway’s Len Cariou, Sandy Duncan, Lee Roy Reams, Baayork Lee, Reeve Carney, Ben Rappaport, and too many others to mention) through eleven well-curated numbers (and, of course, an encore following an extended standing ovation), on his journey of “trying to find out where he fits in.”
He most assuredly fits in on the cabaret stage, delivering renditions of such 1964 Broadway classics as the enticing “You’d Better Love Me” (by Hugh Martin and Timothy Gray, from High Spirits), the slow-tempo “Feeling Good” (by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley, from The Roar of the Greasepaint – The Smell of the Crowd), with a sonorous basso profundo ending, and the ebullient “The Music That Makes Me Dance” (by Jule Styne and Bob Merrill, from Funny Girl) – a favorite of his mother, who was in attendance and an inspiration from childhood – all with William singing directly to the audience, making eye contact, and involving us with a range of full-out emotions and musical stylings that fit the moods, as expressed in his eloquent voice, face, gestures, and moves to the rhythms.
There were also more recent show tunes, like the soft and quiet “When I Look at You” (by Frank Wildhorn and Nan Knighton, from the 1997 musical The Scarlet Pimpernel) and the wishful “Let Me Be Your Star” (by Mark Shaiman and Scott Wittman, from the 2012 TV series Smash, now in its 2025 debut as a Broadway musical), sung with a distant gaze and smile indicative of the deep meaning his success holds for him (the same message expressed in his encore performance of the 1968 pop hit “If I Can Dream” by Walter Earl Brown, made famous by Elvis Presley). And there was the well-paired love-themed medley of “It’s You Again” (by Walter Marks, from the 1968 musical Golden Rainbow) and the 1977 disco hit “Love is in the Air” (by Harry Vanda and George Young), which opened the show with a flawless transition from smooth crooning to bouncy up-tempo energy, the latter enhanced with a revolving disco ball.
As William noted in his between-song banter, one of his all-time favorite singer/songwriters was Peter Allen. He honored him with a medley of three songs – “Arthur’s Theme” (by Burt Bacharach, Carole Bayer Sager, Christopher Cross, and Allen, for the 1981 film Arthur), “If You Were Wondering” (by Allen, and included in The Boy from Oz, the 1998 Australian jukebox musical on his life, which came to Broadway in 2003), and “Not The Boy Next Door” (by Allen and Dean Pitchford) – during which William displayed not only his skill at singing but also dancing, switching into golden tap shoes that, like the rest of his attire, dazzled. So had Allen’s, whose confident self-creating provided the key motivation for William to do the same and to take the step from only performing works by others into writing his own, as heard in his original songs “Wherever We Land” and “Open The Door,” and in two numbers by William and Andrew Morrissey from their new musical-in-development, Dorian’s Wild(e) Affair – “Power Of My Name” and “A Wild Affair” – embracing the character and his story with appropriately wild feeling.
In addition to the songs and musical, the multi-talented artist also announced that he has been busy creating both a feature film and a short film as part of his professional expansion.
If you missed this phenomenal show, don’t despair. The plan is to release the recording of Mark William: Technicolor Dreams 2.0 LIVE from The Green Room in album/CD and digital download formats, so you can enjoy it, or if you were there, revisit the landmark performance as often as you like. I know I will.
Running Time: Approximately 75 minutes, without intermission.
Mark William: Technicolor Dreams 2.0 played on Saturday, May 10, 7 pm, at The Green Room 42, YOTEL, 570 Tenth Avenue, 4th floor, NYC.