The St. George Theater on Staten Island is an amazing place. It was built in 1929 as a film and vaudeville venue. It’s the second largest standing theater in New York City (after Radio City Music Hall). Through the years, the theater has had its up and downs, but was rescued in 2004 as non-profit showcase. Since it’s reopening then, it has hosted a wide and diverse number of acts.
Then there was April 17, 2025.
We got some free tickets to attend a live show, “A Celebration of Musical Legends” featuring people we hadn’t heard of. I figured it was one of those tribute shows like we saw in Atlantic City; someone comes out as Elvis, someone does Sinatra, someone does Diana Ross. A fun, entertaining night out. Just not the fun night out we were expecting. Although them pitching the fact that a soccer player as a "surprise guest" should have made us suspicious.
How can I describe this band? Let’s let the theatre’s website set this up:
 | This New York City debut is more than a concert—it's a celebration of musical legends where past and present collide in perfect harmony, featuring Monti Beton’s passion for timeless melodies and the surprise presence of European football icon Johann Krankl, making it an unforgettable experience. |
Yeah, first off; it’s totally a concert.
The show begins…not with a full house. About 5/8 of the theater is occupied. With the balcony closed. But people seem to be very excited to see the NYC debut of this band. Then the realizations begin to pile up.
It’s an Austrian band. Not Australian, Austrian. Which maybe explains the name of the show; It probably sounded better in the original Austrian. The lead singer, Monti Beton, looks like the American actor Robert Webber. The surprise presence of European football (soccer) icon Johann Krankl is a big surprise because we’ve never heard of him. And he played in the 80s. Apparently he had a hit song in Europe after his soccer career and now fronts this band.
It’s going to be a trip through American’s song book, except they lost the book. They kick it off with Elvis and that rockin’ number, “King Creole.” Who opens up with “King Creole?” Then, to change things up, one of Dean Martin’s Italian songs. No, not “That’s Amore.” A full song in Italian. It seems the band is big in Italy, because they did like four more Italian songs. Some Neil Simon, some Supremes, some Kinks. Actually, a lot of The Kinks. Krankl is a huge Kinks’ fan. They tossed in a couple of Beatle songs late in the game (causing an audience member to blurt out loudly, “About time!”—like, what was she expecting??) Basically I felt like I was watching Austria’s greatest wedding band in action.
They had some of the crowd up on their feet. A couple of ladies in front of me seemed to be watching the whole thing ironically, live-posting the whole show.
The show begins…not with a full house. About 5/8 of the theater is occupied. With the balcony closed. But people seem to be very excited to see the NYC debut of this band. Then the realizations begin to pile up.
It’s an Austrian band. Not Australian, Austrian. Which maybe explains the name of the show; It probably sounded better in the original Austrian. The lead singer, Monti Beton, looks like the American actor Robert Webber. The surprise presence of European football (soccer) icon Johann Krankl is a big surprise because we’ve never heard of him. And he played in the 80s. Apparently he had a hit song in Europe after his soccer career and now fronts this band.
It’s going to be a trip through American’s song book, except they lost the book. They kick it off with Elvis and that rockin’ number, “King Creole.” Who opens up with “King Creole?” Then, to change things up, one of Dean Martin’s Italian songs. No, not “That’s Amore.” A full song in Italian. It seems the band is big in Italy, because they did like four more Italian songs. Some Neil Simon, some Supremes, some Kinks. Actually, a lot of The Kinks. Krankl is a huge Kinks’ fan. They tossed in a couple of Beatle songs late in the game (causing an audience member to blurt out loudly, “About time!”—like, what was she expecting??) Basically I felt like I was watching Austria’s greatest wedding band in action.
They had some of the crowd up on their feet. A couple of ladies in front of me seemed to be watching the whole thing ironically, live-posting the whole show.
The band featured their two female back-up singers. Their female percussionist sang lead a couple of times. When the soccer player got a solo, the lead singer would dash around the band, joining in wherever he could. And all the between song patter was heavily accented.
It was a bizarre show. Like a Will Ferrell sketch, only sketchier. They finished with the Beatles “All You Need is Love” and exited. But the lights didn’t could up. They then did a 3 song encore. They took a band selfie with us in the background.
We left the show with goofy grins, all trying to sort out what we had just scene. I mean, they weren’t awful, but they weren’t great. And the tickets were free, which makes me wonder how many comps they had to hand out to semi-fill the house. Not that I’d tell anyone to watch out for their show, but they apparently headed back home to Europe after this show. I hope they left the plane running.
It was a bizarre show. Like a Will Ferrell sketch, only sketchier. They finished with the Beatles “All You Need is Love” and exited. But the lights didn’t could up. They then did a 3 song encore. They took a band selfie with us in the background.
We left the show with goofy grins, all trying to sort out what we had just scene. I mean, they weren’t awful, but they weren’t great. And the tickets were free, which makes me wonder how many comps they had to hand out to semi-fill the house. Not that I’d tell anyone to watch out for their show, but they apparently headed back home to Europe after this show. I hope they left the plane running.
