Review: Theo Ubique's MY WAY Honors Sinatra

December 12 marks the 100th birthday of music icon Frank Sinatra and Theo Ubique's winter cabaret is serving up a timely, well-sung tribute to Ol' Blue Eyes, MY WAY...A MUSICAL TRIBUTE TO FRANK SINATRA. Anyone burnt out on the usual holiday fare will find it a soothing tonic.

The cast of four include Kyrie Anderson, Caitlin Boho, Carl Herzog and Christopher Logan. The band consists of Jeremy Ramey on piano, Kevin Brown on drums and Jake Saleh on bass. Over 50 of Sinatra's biggest hits are covered during the course of the two-act show.

Highlights from the night include some impressive footwork and singing by Logan on "The Sunny Side of the Street" and "The Lady is a Tramp," a heart-breaking rendition of "Funny Valentine" by Boho that encapsulates the depths of a potential loss embodied in the lyric, a sultry and sensual performance of "Something Wonderful Happens in Summer" from Anderson that shows she is in full mastery of her voice and craft, and a swinging "Fly Me to the Moon" from Herzog.

Vocally, Herzog is the one performer who dances dangerously close to imitating the vocal styling of Sinatra. He never fully goes there (which is a good thing; anytime someone tries to "do Frank" it pales to the original). He's charming and has a devilish gleam in his eye while he's doing it and thankfully it never crosses over into the area of full-imitation/parody.

Sinatra was a bit of a risk-taker and a rule-breaker. He was one of the first artists to release a concept album. He earned the ire of many lyricists for freely reinterpreting and changing words. He co-opted the African-American vocal styling known as scat and brought it to the masses. The only criticism of this well-sung show with tight band arrangements is that it plays things a little too safe. Previous cabaret shows at Theo Ubique took more risks ("One" in a minor key during "A Marvin Hamlisch Songbook" immediately comes to mind). It appears I've gotten spoiled with prior productions that reinvent material. A stellar production that breaks no new ground and doesn't offer any new insight into its source material wouldn't garner a criticism anywhere else. It's a good production. Fans of Sinatra, the American Songbook, Jazz and Swing will all enjoy this show. Ubiquers (as I have come to call fans of Theo Ubique --and I include myself in this group) might need to lower their expectations just a smidge, though.

Theo Ubique's production of MY WAY runs through Jan. 10, 2016 at the No Exit Café, 6970 N. Glenwood. Tickets, $29-34. Dinner packages also available. www.theo-u.com.

To post a comment, you must register and login.