A DELIGHTFUL MUSICAL TRIBUTE TO FRANK SINATRA: “MY WAY"

         RICK FAUGNO IN MUSICAL AND DANCING TRIBUTE TO FRANK SINATRA

Music lovers of a certain era are in for a special treat courtesy of the Ivoryton Playhouse until Sunday, April 9. Come raise a glass to toast and pay tribute to a man who recorded 1300 tunes in his illustrious career that spanned decades.

In December of 1915, a baby boy was born to Italian immigrant parents in Hoboken, New Jersey.  He was destined to become a beloved crooner of tunes, a swinger with the likes of a Tommy Dorsey and Harry James, a “bobby soxer” idol way before the Beatles and an actor gifted enough to win an Academy Award as well as more than a dozen Grammy Awards. Francis Albert Sinatra, better known as Frank, was part of the Rat Pack with Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr., Joey Bishop and Peter Lawford and answered to the monikers “Ol’ Blue Eyes” and “Chairman of the Board.”

For a truly delightful evening of memories and music, the Ivoryton Playhouse is eager to provide nostalgia as it presents  “My Way:  A Musical Tribute to Frank Sinatra.”   Conceived by David Grapes and Todd Olson, the show features the talents of a sparkling quartet of singers and hoofers,  Rick Faugno, Lauren Gire, Josh Powell and Vanessa Sonon, in a sophisticated supper club setting reminiscent of the late 1950’s created by William Russell Stark.

 Called  “the ultimate theater” by Duke Ellington,  this King of the Hill songster put across a tune like few others could.  Come hear these two men and two women travel from “Strangers in the Night” to “I’ll Be Seeing You,” stopping along the way to pay homage to the nighttime orb, with “Fly Me to the Moon,” spin the light fantastic romantically with such hits as “Where or When,” and “Let’s Face the Music and Dance,” move around the world geographically with “My Kind of Town,” “New York, New York” and “I Love Paris” as well as a  medley of philosophical favorites such as “That’s Life,” “My Way," “It Was a Very Good Year” and “I’m Gonna Live 'Til I Die.”

To Frank Sinatra, the secret of his success was to sing good songs and this wonderful quartet does just that in tribute and style.  Sinatra was known to sing one hundred songs a day and this musical tapestry squeezes in more than half that number, sprinkling in anecdotes along the way. Husband and wife team Joyce Chittick and Rick Faugno direct and choreograph this smooth sailing sampling with skill and sophistication.

For tickets ($50, $45 for seniors, $22 for students, $17 for children), call at 860-767-7328 or online at www.ivorytonplayhouse.org.  Performances are Wednesday

and Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at  8 p.m. and Wednesday and Sunday at 2 p.m.

Come join this engaging tribute celebration and recapture the spirit of a man whose music was a legend, a man we will long treasure and respect.