11:34am Friday 25th June 2010
THE career of pop’s ‘ultimate survivor’ will be celebrated in an extravaganza of song and dance at The Mayflower next week.
Laughter in the Rain will chart the career of Neil Sedaka who first shot to fame in the late-1950s.
Best known for hits including Calendar Girl, Breaking Up Is Hard to Do and Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen, he has enjoyed huge highs and lows during more than 50 years in showbusiness.
Sedaka told Scene South: “It’s an emotional rollercoaster. None of us are perfect and I wanted the truth to be told.
“It’s not a jukebox musical by any means. The songs are all meaningful. The drama is there and the edge is there, so I’m very, very pleased.”
Billed as a teenage idol to rival Elvis, Sedaka scored eight top 40 hits in the early 1960s but his career slumped when Beatlemania exploded on both sides of the Atlantic.
Suddenly no one wanted to know about the clean-cut star and he lost his record contract.
Unable to record his songs himself, the devastated star had to make do with writing them for other big stars of the day, including Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra and Karen Carpenter.
But his career saw a massive resurgence in 1974 when Elton John signed him to his label Rocket Records, and Sedaka soared back to the top of the charts.
While he has remained hugely successful ever since – winning a prestigious Ivor Novello award just last month – the star has never forgotten those dark times.
• Laughter in the Rain – The Neil Sedaka Story runs at The Mayflower from Monday until Saturday, July 3. Visit mayflower.org.uk or call 023 8071 1811 to book.
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