As my short bio at the end of this article states, it was seeing Frank Sinatra, Liza Minnelli and Sammy Davis, Jr. in concert (when I was a teenager) that turned me on to live performance. Theatre By The Sea (TBTS) opens its 76th season with a swinging tribute to the Chairman of the Board with My Way, A Tribute to Frank Sinatra.
My Way is a straight-forward musical revue. Productions of the show have done quite well in small regional theater and dinner theaters. It is easy to see why.
In TBTS’ production, which is directed by its co-creator, David Grapes II, the set is dressed like one can imagine the inside of the Brown Derby might look like. Two male leads and two female leads take the stage dressed to-the-nines and lead the audience through Sinatra’s career, from Bobby Socks to Ol’ Blue Eyes. No one is trying to make you believe that you are seeing Sinatra himself. The evening may well be a tribute to the Great American Songbook, or to Sammy Cahn, as each of these play as strong of a role in the production.
The quartet sings about 50 of the roughly 1500 songs that Sinatra recorded during his career. Many of the songs are molded together in a handful of hefty medleys. The is a ‘Cities’ medley, a two-part ‘Love and Marriage’ medley a ‘Moon’ medley, etc. Grapes and his co-creator Todd Olsen take care to remind the audience that it was Sinatra who made the concept album mainstream.
Some of the humor is appropriately hammy and a couple of the lyrics were toyed with unnecessarily but I am reminded that Sinatra himself was a bit hammy at times and was always fast and loose with other people’s lyrics.
The talented cast includes Casey Erin Clark, John Fredo, Karen Jeffreys and Jason Watson. The show is designed to present four equals. Each member of the cast can sing quite well, but it is Fredo’s above-average tap skill and his unhurried approach along with his experience with the material that make him the top dog in this production.
The quartet is back by a swinging jazz trio with John C. Brown as Music Director and on keyboard, Mike Sartini on drums and Sean Farias on bass.
There is really nothing not to like about My Way.
Photo by Mark Turek: (From Left) John Fredo, Casey Erin Clark, Karen Jeffreys and Jason Watson.
My Way, A Tribute to Frank Sinatra plays at Theatre By The Sea in Matunuck, RI through June 14, 2009. Tickets range from $39-$49 and can be purchased at the Box Office which is located at 364 Cards Pond Road, Matunuck, RI or by phone at (401)782-TKTS. For more information visit www.theatrebythesea.com.
