By Bruce B. Brugmann
Tonight, April l3, George Michalski will celebrate his 50th anniversary in show business with a piano recital and rollicking vaudeville show at Fat City (the old Transmission night club), at 3l4 llth St., San Francisco. Show time is 7:30 p.m., $20.
It will be far different than his first sedate recital on April l3, l957, when he played Schaum and Rolseth pieces
in the main branch of the San Francisco Public Library. Jean and I saw Michalski last fall at the Larkspur Theater, where he has been an ornament for sometime, and we enjoyed it enormously. He presents his rambunctious vaudeville show in a new San Francisco version, with Michalski as showman pianist, and a cast of his talented musical friends. Well, that was Marin and now it’s time to see his superb piano, good humor, and rollicking show back in San Francisco where it belongs and back for good. Below is a piece about Michalski in the current Guardian by Johnny Ray Huston, our arts and entertainment editor.
Keys of life
By Johnny Ray Huston
PIANO MAN On April 13, 1957, at an assembly room in the main branch of the San Francisco Public Library, George Michalski gave his first piano recital. He played John W. Schaum’s “Snake Dance” and “The Sphinx” and closed with “My First Waltz,” by Bjarne Rolseth, from G. Schirmer’s Piano Solo series for students. “My mom was so excited leaving the house that she tripped and sprained her ankle,” Michalski remembers. “She went to the show anyway and stayed for the whole recital — then we took care of her leg.”
On April 13, 2007, Michalski will put on another piano recital in San Francisco. This time it won’t be at the library, but his mother will attend. So will some special guests — unsurprising, since in the 50 years after his first performance, Michalski’s ivory-tickling talent has led to collaborations with everyone from Blue Cheer to Barbra Streisand.
To read the full article, click here.