MESSAGE #494 - JACK DID IT! YOU CAN TOO!

ILLINOIS MAN PAYS $118,000 TO PUT ON HIS OWN SHOW AT RADIO CITY MUSIC HALL

BY EDGAR SANDOVAL
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Zalcman for News

Organist Jack Moelmann shortly before his scheduled appearance at Radio City Music Hall.

How do you get to Radio City Music Hall? Practice - and $118,182.44.

Even if nobody shows up tonight to hear Jack Moelmann perform a medley of Broadway favorites on the concert hall's organ, he says, "It's money well-spent."

"I've been playing the organ since I was 8 years old," said the retired Air Force colonel as he stood beaming beside the poster announcing his 8 p.m. gig. "For 50 years, I've been wanting to do this. I've got no wife or kids. This is it for me."

Moelmann, 67, who hails from the St. Louis suburb of O'Fallon, Ill., had plenty of practice under his belt. But that wasn't quite enough to get him into one of New York's most famous venues.

He said the idea of blowing his life savings to rent the same hall where Willie Nelson, Sarah Brightman and The Police have recently graced the stage didn't scare him.

He said his pals at the Theater Organ Society International encouraged him to go for it.

"We should all follow our dreams the way Jack follows his," said Moelmann's buddy, Nelson Page, 54, who will serve as the master of ceremonies. "For many, playing here is something they can only dream about."

Mikyl Cordova, a spokesman for Radio City, said it was the first time in history that an average Joe rented the hall to put on his own show.

Moelmann plans to play classics like the "Trolley Song" from the musical "Meet Me in St. Louis" and some other favorites from "Mame" on the famous organ, which was installed in 1932.

As of yesterday, Moelmann's hometown pals had reserved 15 of the 6,000 seats in the hall for a show billed as "A Musical Showcase featuring Col. Jack Moelmann and Friends at the Mighty Wurlitzer Theatre Pipe Organ."

So, New Yorkers, there's still plenty of seats available, and tickets are selling for $50 a pop.

Moelmann said he's not worried about going broke.

"I've still got some money," he said. "I'm not going to be begging on the streets."

And he plans to give it his all - for whoever shows up.

"I've played in many places over the years, but this is Mount Everest," he said.

NEW YORK POST

ORGANIST HAS A WURL

By DAN AQUILANTE, Post Music Critic

August 10, 2008 --

It was a pipe organ dream-come-true.

Last night, in front of an audience of nearly 1,000, Jack Moelmann stretched his 15 minutes of fame into a two-hour concert program, realizing his lifelong ambition to play the massive Radio City Music Hall Wurlitzer in his Big Apple debut.

The 67-year-old retired Air Force colonel enjoyed a dose of celebrity over the past few weeks when he announced he'd pulled out all the stops and spent $118,000 of his own cash to rent Radio City for the gig.

Moelmann, who looks his years, is a little younger than the 1932 vintage instrument he played. You might ask why Moelmann lusted to noodle at this organ, but the answer is easy: It's the biggest, baddest beast of an organ in America. In fact, it's the largest theater pipe organ ever built by Wurlitzer.

When you're talking organs, size matters. In a program of show tunes, sing-along standards and even a classical piece - sorry rockers, no "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" - Moelmann and five organist pals managed to successfully showcase the mighty organ's power and range when played in the cavernous auditorium.

In a white dinner jacket, Moelmann was a little jittery on his opener "Trolley Song" from the Judy Garland film "Meet Me In St. Louis." He rushed the piece and missed a few notes. But as his set progressed, he showed himself as a skilled amateur.

This was a folksy show with an avuncular organ man. His showmanship is hoaky, but his love of the instrument and his desire to share that appreciation is genuine. Music needs more Jack Moelmanns - guys who do it for love, not money.