Review: OUR SINATRA, A MUSICAL CELEBRATION at Marjorie S. Dean Little Theater

Ol’ Blue Eyes is back! Or at least the original creators/performers of Our Sinatra, A Musical Celebration, the hit Off-Broadway revue, are back, in a 25-year anniversary production at The Marjorie S. Deane Little Theater (10 West 64th Street, NYC). The 12-week engagement opened September 15 after several preview performances.

The show first premiered at the (defunct) Oak Room at the Algonquin Hotel in 1999 before producer Jack Lewin discovered it and moved it to the Blue Angel Theatre in 2000. Our Sinatra was co-created by its original stars, music director and performer Eric Comstock, jazz singer Hilary Kole, and singer Christopher Gines with direction by Kurt Stamm and under the supervision of legendary Tony winner Richard Maltby, Jr. Aside from Comstock on piano, the only other instrumental accompaniment comes from a rotating lineup of bassists: Nate Francis, Jay Leonhart, and Marco Panascia Panascia performed at the September 20 performance this writer attended.

The well-constructed show takes a look at many of Sinatra’s most best-known hit songs from his nearly 60 years as a recording artist, from the classic ballads of the 40s to the saloon and torch songs of the 50s and the swingin’ sounds of the 60s. Sinatra introduced many songs to the world, and some of his recordings were considered so definitive that they are often referred to as “Sinatra songs.”

The three singers have their own particular styles. Comstock, a fine pianist, singer and consummate raconteur of the Bobby Short school, has a singing style reminiscent of Buddy Greco. Kole, primarily known as a jazz singer, can handle any type of music. (Kole is also in a return engagement of Going Bacharach, also produced by Jack Lewin, which alternates with Our Sinatra at the theater.) Gines, previously unknown to this writer, is a solid baritone with good instincts.

The excellent opening number featured a medley of Sinatra songs and marvelous three-part harmonies.  Kole soloed on a stunning “Night and Day” (Cole Porter), with the opening verse moved to mid-song as a second bridge.

Sinatra’s long second career in Hollywood was covered, starting with “A Lovely Way to Spend an Evening” (Jimmy McHugh/Harold Adamson) from the 1943 film Higher and Higher. Gines donned a sailor hat for Sinatra’s “sailor period” (a pair of 1940s films with Gene Kelly in which the “boys” played sailors). Sitting on the piano bench, Gines did a swell job on “I Fall in Love Too Easily” (Jule Styne/Sammy Cahn, from Anchors Aweigh), ending with the “Sinatra bend” that made girls swoon in the first part of Sinatra’s career. Comstock and Kole swung an upbeat duet of the ballad “Time After Time” (Jule Styne/Sammy Cahn, from It Happened in Brooklyn). To showcase Sinatra’s 50s hipster movie persona, Kole doffed a fedora for “The Tender Trap” (Jimmy Van Heusen/Sammy Cahn, from the film of the same name). 

Kole delivered a torchy, emotional take on “I’m a Fool to Want You” (Joel Herron/Jack Wolf/Frank Sinatra), for which Sinatra co-wrote the lyrics. This was an especially strong show highlight.

For the clever, self-deprecating “Everything Happens to Me” (Matt Dennis/Tom Adair), a song Sinatra recorded three times in his career, Comstock sang both the short opening verse and the extra verse Adair wrote for Sinatra for his 1974 recording.

Sinatra was famous for his “saloon songs,” or “drunk songs” as he later called them, and here Comstock borrowed the original Bill Miller piano riffs for “One For My Baby” (Harold Arlen/Johnny Mercer), performed as a medley with “Angel Eyes” (Matt Dennis/Earl K. Brent), sung by Kole.

Gines was especially effective on “Last Night When We Were Young” (Harold Arlen/Yip Harburg), with some beautiful bow work by Panascia. Later, he talked about what set Sinatra apart as a singer: his ability to authentically convey intimacy, vulnerability, and tragedy

Interestingly, Kole revealed that her father, Bob Kole, was a Broadway singer who took over the part of Tony in the original cast of West Side Story. In a frankly amazing story, she told of the time her dad, while performing in Australia, decided to call Sinatra, whom he did not know, to tell him how much he meant to him after hearing one of his records. He somehow managed to convince the hotel operator to relay to Sinatra exactly why he was calling. Sinatra not only picked up the phone, but to help Bob win a bet that he could get Sinatra on the phone, he spoke to every man in the bar.

Kole followed this story with another show highlight, sitting on the piano to sing a very jazzy “I’ve Got the World On a String” (Harold Arlen/Ted Koehler). She let loose with her Ella-level scat chops, while Panascia supplied an outstanding solo.

Comstock, who is quite funny, described himself as coming from the “Mayonnaise Belt.” (While he’s more supper club than jazz cat, he’s no Pat Boone, either.)

For the “inevitable hit medley” to end the show, the trio performed what Comstock described as “the Mother of Medleys,” which included a line or two from more than two dozen songs. Gines, when singing a snippet of “The Summer Wind” (Heinz Meier/Johnny Mercer), did a funny, exaggerated impression of Sinatra in his Vegas years. And for good measure, Kole sang a short line from the Nancy Sinatra hit “These Boots Are Made For Walkin’” (Lee Hazlewood) before Comstock and Gines declared, “Wrong Sinatra!”

In an especially fitting touch after the curtain calls, the trio returned for an a cappella, three-part harmony rendition of “Put Your Dreams Away” (Ruth Lowe, Paul Mann and Stephan Weiss), the song Sinatra used for many years as his closing theme for his 1940s radio series.

While this show is a love letter to Sinatra and the songs associated with him, there was no attempt at mimicry with one humorous exception late in the show, and most of the arrangements did not borrow from Sinatra’s recordings. Many of the songs had verses or additional lyrics that Sinatra never performed. Overall, it is a lovely show that will be appreciated not only by Sinatra fans, but by all lovers of the Great American Songbook.

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Our Sinatra, A Musical Celebration is playing at The Marjorie S. Deane Little Theater (10 West 64th Street) through November 29. For more information and for tickets, visit https://oursinatra.com/.

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