Aug 17, 2008 2:21 pm US/Eastern
Come For The Big Macs, Stay For The Songs
PIKESVILLE, Md. (AP) ―
Call it McCopa.
People come at 5:30 p.m. every Monday for dinner and a show -- at McDonald's.
A troupe of crooners entertains the crowd, led by Gary "The Singing Stockbroker" Richman.
Aging, adoring fans take turns singing Sinatra -- and more Sinatra. Some slow dance in the aisle.
"It's a happening!" says Richman, the crew leader. He's the man in the fedora singing "The Lady is a Tramp" behind a Happy Meals Transformers display. A few years ago, Richman was singing at an Italian restaurant in Canton. He has since built a "A Night at the Copa" rat pack, a Saturday night radio show on WVIE-AM, and a local touring schedule that stops Mondays in Pikesville.
Recently, the group celebrated its 80th appearance at McDonald's. They were all there: Richman with his boundless enthusiasm (and whiskey prop glass), and his singing; belly-dancing wife, Holly (by day, an Outreach Zoomobile instructor at the Maryland Zoo); Mickey "Baltimore's Own Blue Eyes" Light; and Steve "The Singing Baloney Salesman" Earle.
Announcer Stan Plotkin and "Beloved Baltimore radio and TV personality" Eddie Applefeld were also present. The men wore tuxedos and fedoras.
"Gary should go in the Mafia," said Peggy Matz from Pikesville, pleased with Richman's sartorial swagger. She waited for the show to begin -- and to order her usual sundae.
Matz and the rest of the Pikesville crowd arrive early to get seats up front. They stay late -- sometimes to 7 p.m. -- to hear their favorite songs at this McDonald's across from a Shell station on Reisterstown Road.
Usually, the crowd is 50 to 75 people, but there have been as many as 175 people come out to what locals call the "Gucci McDonald's."
All of the tribute singers more than carry a tune, and none of them sounds too much like Ol' Blue Eyes, but that is not the point.
Their road shows are a tribute to the performance style, the singers and music of the 1940s and 1950s.
"Fly Me to the Moon," "I've Got You Under My Skin," "(Chicago is) My Kind of Town, "Mack the Knife" and "Luck Be a Lady," are part of the group's 66-song set list. They also sing at birthday parties -- and retirement centers and occasionally Alzheimer's facilities.
"They all sound good -- and he's smooth," said Morley Grossman. He's listening to Richman sing "When Somebody Loves You."
Grossman brought his own food -- a corned beef sandwich -- and looked like he was going to stay awhile.
Juan Bates is a happy store manager.
"I love this. People say it's classy, and it is," Bates said. "Does good business for us, too." Tuesday is bingo night, but on Mondays, the coffee, diet sodas, fries and grilled chicken sandwiches really sell. "You should see the customers when they come in here."
Yes, the unsuspecting McDonald's customers who come in for a Quarter-Pounder but find themselves in a swinging Twilight Zone.
Along with CDs and the radio show, Richman's troupe performs at the Pikesville Hilton and at Gianni's in Arbutus and Germano's in Baltimore.
But there's only one McDonald's on their itinerary.
"I hate to leave," says Leona Adleberg of Pikesville. She came for a sundae, but stayed for much of the show. "I have never seen so many happy people in one place."
(© 2008 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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