This show faithfully and respectfully revisits Frank Sinatra’s tour of ‘1962’ which included dates in Tokyo, Hong Kong, Tel Aviv, Athens, Rome, Milan, Madrid, Olympia, Monaco, London at the Royal Festival Hall and of course the Lido in Paris. As one of only two tours performed with the sextet line up (the first being the 1959 tour of Australia with the Red Norvo Sextet) the show is of its time with the usual rhythm section Drums Bass Keys and Guitar complimented by Alto Sax and Vibraphone.
Long before My way, Strangers in the night and The theme from New York etc which Sinatra felt were of little artist merit, despite their commercial success, these scaled down arrangements of American song book standards and many others newly written and contemporary at the time, these concerts are widely regarded by many true fans as the pinnacle of Sinatra’s career with his voice at it’s peek and at it’s most exposed in a live context.
The Show is typically of two acts of 55 min with interval and follows the original pattern of songs with the bands Neil Hefty arrangements faithfully transcribed from the original concerts.
David Jacobs whom presented and Introduced the original Royal Festival Hall show in 1962 has recorded an opening introduction which sets the scene beautifully.
Our sincerest thanks go to David for taking the time to give such a major contribution to this project.
The Band line up although not soilidly fixed features some of the UK finest Musicians who have been specifically chosen to complement the original bands sound. Recent player have included : Andy Panayi,Mitch Dalton, Colin Green, Alec Dankworth, Anthony Kerr, Clark Tracy Mike Nichols James Treweek and John O’neil to mention a few…
Paul Holgate plays the Character of Frank Sinatra and as well as being the same height and build as Mr Sinatra was at this period there is more than a passing resemblance facially including the blue eyes and most importantly Paul has studied and convincingly conveys as much as possible every nuance of Sinatra’s vocal delivery and physicality having dedicated the last eight years professionally in the study and reproduction of the sinatra repetoire. Between songs there is the subtle banter and interaction again delivered in character so as to allow the audience to suspend their disbelief and just get on and experience and savour one of the finest periods in Frank Sinatra’s career.
A show predominantly will appeal to fans of Sinatra but open to casual observers alike and is suitable for Traditional theatre venues as well as Jazz/Music and Supper Show Venues.
