The Sinatra Way

WEB-EXCLUSIVE: If you're a fan of Ol' Blue Eyes, you can't miss the musical revue 'My Way: A Musical Tribute to Frank Sinatra,' running through August 23 at The Laguna Playhouse.

'My Way' at Laguna Playouse pays tribute to the timeless songs of Frank Sinatra.

Someone once asked Frank Sinatra how he became so successful. His response: “Sing good songs!”

Thanks to his skilled vocals and gift as a storyteller, Sinatra turned the good songs he sang into timeless treasures. Nearly 60 of those songs can be heard during the musical revue My Way: A Musical Tribute to Frank Sinatra that runs through August 23 at The Laguna Playhouse. The show is directed by David Grapes, who conceived the revue along with Todd Olson.

“I was always taken by Sinatra’s ease, his ‘cool’ and the epic in-your-face way that he chose to live his life,” says Grapes. “I wondered how that could be translated into an evening of theater. The solution was obvious. The key was in the music.”

After researching Sinatra’s career, Grapes was amazed to learn that Sinatra had recorded nearly 1,400 songs. “I marveled at how he sustained a career over six decades, and was intrigued by his remarkable way with a simple lyric, his musicality, his artistry, and the way he controlled both the song and the audience,” says Grapes. “Frank really was the first teen idol and the first singer to have tremendous power in multiple mediums. There are really only a few stars today with the same kind of star power that Frank had.”

Grapes’ show celebrates the pivotal moments of Sinatra’s life that solidified his legendary status, and recalls the essence of the man through the music he sang. Four singers croon Sinatra tunes on a nightclub-style set – a suitable ambiance for songs from the man who always dubbed himself “a saloon singer.”

“I set a goal not to create a show that needed an impersonator, but to first and foremost create a theatrical event, which is why we have two men and two women in the piece,” says Grapes. “There is only one Sinatra and he is gone. What lives on is the music that Sinatra loved.”

Tickets are $40-$70. Call (949) 497-2787; lagunaplayhouse.com