Tony Bennett once played Evansville with jugglers and unicyclists

Jon Webb, Evansville Courier & Press
·2 min read
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EVANSVILLE – When Tony Bennett got married the first time, his female fans staged a mock funeral, dressing as black-clad mourners outside the church. So he knew a little something about adulation.

Still, the reception he received in Evansville on June 30, 1956, must have taken him aback.

In town to open the summer season at the then-fairly-new Mesker Amphitheatre, Bennett received 15 curtain calls in front of 3,000 fans. “Bobby-soxers” and other attendees screeched as he crooned his biggest hits at the time, including “Because of You” and “The Boulevard of Broken Dreams.”

But he wasn’t alone that night. The night was billed as a variety show, and hordes of bizarre acts filled the stage, the Sunday Courier & Press reported at the time. There were unicyclists, jugglers and an acrobatic squad that featured the talents of a 4-year-old.

Bennett, a singer who had his first No. 1 hit in 1951 and was still winning Grammys as late as last year, died Friday at 96. In 2021, his family announced that he was battling Alzheimer’s disease.

Over the course of his eight-decade career, he played for every president from Dwight D. Eisenhower to Barack Obama, the Washington Post reported.

Tony Bennett is seen in an Evansville Courier & Press spread alongside singer Cathy Carr. The two played a two-night stint at Mesker Amphitheatre in 1956, alongside jugglers and unicyclists. Bennett died July 21, 2023.
Tony Bennett is seen in an Evansville Courier & Press spread alongside singer Cathy Carr. The two played a two-night stint at Mesker Amphitheatre in 1956, alongside jugglers and unicyclists. Bennett died July 21, 2023.

Acrobats and unicycles

He also came to Evansville multiple times, with his last visit coming in 2019. But during his two-night stay in 1956, he was still a rising talent with a knack for drawing huge crowds.

So the jazz-playing-unicyclists probably weren’t necessary. But hey, why not?

Kicking things off were Mignon and the Martells, an acrobatic act that featured 4-year-old Forrest Martell. Then came Val Setz, who told cringeworthy jokes while he juggled.

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Leo de Lyon was a tad funnier. Instead of playing an instrument, he impersonated several and closed his set by “whistling two different songs at the same time,” Courier reviewer Bill Greer wrote.

And let’s not forget the unicycle act. The Three Goetchis provided more acrobatics, played music and jitterbugged – all while tooling around on one wheel.

Finally, the singing began. Cathy Carr belted a few tunes before Bennett took the stage at last. The response was rapturous.

“The evening was cool, the cats were rockin’, and probably nobody there would have missed the show,” Greer wrote. “Amphitheatre manager Jim Newcom says an even bigger crowd is expected tonight."

This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Tony Bennett once played Evansville with jugglers and unicyclists