Frank Sinatra: The Second Century
Feinstein’s/54 Below, NYC, October 30, 2021
Reviewed by Ron Forman
The latest edition of Scott Siegel’s long-running, now twice-monthly series, Frank Sinatra: The Second Century continues to provide evidence that Sinatra’s incredible musical legacy lives on more than two decades after his passing. Each show in the series is different, but the successful formula is always the same. Gather a cast of talented vocalists, pick about a dozen songs that Sinatra sang on recordings, in concert, or on radio or television, then have the vocalists perform the song in their own style of singing. Siegel introduces each song with an interesting bit of information or by telling a funny story.
In this show, he told how Sinatra, after getting his shoes shined, gave the shoeshine man a $100 tip and asked “Have you ever gotten a tip this big?” The man replied, “Yes Mr. Sinatra, you gave me one.” Music director Ron Abel remarkably was able to adjust his arrangements and piano accompaniment to each performers style and sound.
The show opened appropriately with a Sinatra classic, Cole Porter’s “I Get a Kick Out of You,” performed by Albert Nelthropp. Adam Gallago’s big voice worked very well on “With a Song in My Heart,” a song that Sinatra never recorded, having only sung it on the radio. Gallago would return to do a very beautiful version of one of my favorite songs, “Once Upon a Time,” a song, Siegel informed us, surprisingly, that has lyrics by Mel Brooks. After Siegel told how Johnny Mercer wrote the English lyrics to “Autumn Leaves” on the back of an envelope, Michael Winther did a delightfully soft performance of it. Winther returned to do a bold, bluesy“I’m Gonna Live Until I Die.” Ben Jones belted a bombastic, very different “I Wanna Be Around.” Abel included a wonderful piano solo while accompanying Jeffrey Kringer on “All of Me.” Opera star John Easterlin showed off his wonderful tenor with “Born Free.” Jones displayed his versatility as a vocalist by beginning “In the Wee Small Hours” very softly, almost whispering the seldom-sung verse, but then building to a very big finish. “My Way” is a song associated with both Sinatra and Elvis Presley, yet with the use of his marvelous sound and dramatic facial expressions, Easterlin ended the show in a thrilling manner by doing it His Way.
