Years Before 'Peter Pan,' Allison Williams Sang the 'Mad Men' Theme -- Sort of
I missed this music video the first time around, when it was uploaded in 2010, but it has even more resonance now. Two years before Allison Williams was cast as Marnie in HBO’s Girls, and four full years before she donned green tights to star in NBC’s Peter Pan Live!, she appeared in this fluidly filmed music video. With a small “orchestra” behind her, performing RJD2’s “A Beautiful Mine” (the song acquired as the instrumental opening credits theme song for AMC’s Mad Men), Williams sings the lyrics to a famous Nat King Cole recording, “Nature Boy” (written by Eden Ahbez). The mashup works, and sounds beautiful – and Williams, dressed in period white gloves and a blue gown, nails it in a single unbroken take, as the camera swoops around her. As the YouTube description notes proudly, “No cuts, dubbing, lip-synching or auto-tuning.” And with the final episodes of Mad Men on the horizon, this five-year-old performance helps set the mood. – David Bianculli