Our Sinatra

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Our Sinatra, A Musical Celebration which was first seen in 1999 at the Algonquin Hotel’s Oak Room and then moved to the Blue Angel Theatre and later the Reprise Room for a total run of 1,096 performances is back after 25 years remarkably with its original cast and creators: Eric Comstock (musical director at the piano), baritone Christopher Gines and soprano Hilary Kole. This magnificent tribute to “Ol’ Blues Eyes” who left us in 1998 includes 60 songs plus some banter about his career and stories by the singers of their involvement with his music. The songs are performed as solos, duets and trios by this cast that knows this material intimately.

Chosen from the 1,500 studio recordings that Sinatra made in a career that spanned the 1930’s to the 1990’s, this cabaret style show includes all of the songs most connected to his career as well as some “orphan songs” that he resurrected and made famous again. As you would expect you get to hear “My Way,” “Fly Me to the Moon,” “Strangers in the Night,” “I’ve Got You Under My Skin,” “The Way You Look Tonight” and “Come Fly with Me.” Some of the songs that Sinatra rescued include “Here’s That Rainy Day,” “Guess I’ll Hang My Tears Out to Dry” and Cole Porter’s “I’ve Got You Under My Skin.”

While this show has too many songs to name all of them, they present two clever medleys, one devoted to Sinatra’s film career, the other to saloon songs he enjoyed singing. We are told Sinatra made 58 films in his career, many of them being musicals or where he sang the title song. Gines begins the Movie Medley with Jimmy McHugh’s “A Lovely Way to Spend an Evening” from the 1944 Higher and Higher, and then segues into Jule Styne and Sammy Cahn’s “I Fall in Love Too Easily” from 1945’s Anchors Aweigh. This is followed by Kole’s rendition of Styne and Sammy Cahn’s “Time After Time” from 1947’s It Happened in Brooklyn and Cahn and Van Heusen’s The Tender Trap (1955), the title song of the movie of the same name.

The theme to 1945’s The House I Live In is played as an instrumental by Comstock, while Gines sings the theme from 1953’s From Here to Eternity, a song which was not sung in the movie but proved a hit for Sinatra when it was released as a promotional two weeks after the film’s premiere. (Both of these films earned Sinatra Oscars. Two songs from Cole Porter’s High Society (1956) follow: “You’re Sensational” sung by Comstock and “Well Did You Evah” sung by all three together. Two songs which pay tribute to the great metropolises follow also sung by all three in bravura fashion: Cahn and Van Heusen’s tribute to Chicago, “My Kind of Town,” written for 1964’s Robin and the 7 Hoods, and the Leonard Bernstein/Comden and Green “NY, NY, A Helluva Town” from the film version of On the Town.

Later in the show we are treated to the Saloon Medley heavy on songs composed by Harold Arlen in the blues style and redolent of liquor. Comstock sings David Mann’s “In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning,” followed by Kole’s rendition of “It Never Entered My Mind,” a Rodgers and Hart song from Higher and Higher which was not used in the film. Two songs by Arlen follow sung by all three: “Last Night When We Were Young” (to lyrics by E.Y. Harburg) and “One for My Baby” (to words by Ted Koehler).

Just when you think the 90-minute show might be coming to an end, the trio offer a medley of 31 Sinatra hits, many in truncated form including such winners as “Night and Day,” “Fly Me to the Moon,” “The Lady is a Tramp,” “High Hopes,” “The Best is Yet to Come,” “Witchcraft,” “Strangers in the Night,” “My Way,” and of course, new Kander and Ebb’s “New York, New York.” There is even a surprise encore sung a cappella.

Each of the singers tells their own story of their involvement with Sinatra: Kole tells a story of her singer father when on tour in Australia with West Side Story he reached out to the singer and discovered his generosity. Over the many years involved with this show, Gines says he has figured out what made Sinatra so unique “was his alibility to create a kind of intimacy in singing that hadn’t existed in quite the same way as the singers some came before him. …Sinatra made it ok for singers, particularly male singers, to be vulnerable.” Comstock reveals he did not grow up listening to Sinatra and had to figure out what made him special. His answer is that “Sinatra wasn’t just performing or presenting the songs, he was living, personalizing, INHABITING the songs. You can see the humanity, commitment, and pain behind the famous blue eyes. I think that’swhat sets him apart and makes him one of the greats singers of the 20^th century.”

Restaged by original director Kurt Stamm with production supervised by Richard Maltby, Jr., the three performers complement each other well. Hilary Kole’s sultry voice adds color to her songs. Christopher Gines’ resonant baritone brings authority to the stage. Eric Comstock offers a triple threat: his nimble fingers on the keys, his narration of the evening, and his tenor for the songs. The lighting design by Matt Berman uses different colors to bring various moods to songs.

Their uncredited costumes give the show a classy look: Kole appears first in an off the shoulder brown lamé  sheath and then changes into a rose-colored full-length gown for the last part of the evening. Gines appears in two tuxedos both accessorized with bow ties. Comstock who never leaves the piano wears a jaunty black smoking jacket with a lavender tie and handkerchief. His playing is accompanied by bassist Nate Francis, Jay Leonhart and Marco Panascia alternating on different evenings.

Our Sinatra is a remarkable tribute to the legendary singer not only showing his versatility but the many facets to his career and range. The songs chosen cover the entire range of his career from his early days with Tommy Dorsey and the Pied Pipers through his movie career to studio recordings and concert tours. Twenty-five years after they first presented this show, Eric Comstock, Christopher Gines and Hilary Kole still have what it takes to put over this lush musical catalogue. Our Sinatra, A Musical Celebration is performed at the Marjorie S. Deane Little Theater in repertory with Going Bacharach, a tribute to another musical legend which also features Hilary Kole as one of its singers.

Our Sinatra, A Musical Celebration (through November 29, 2026)

Marjorie S. Deane Little Theater, 10 W. 64^th Street in Manhattan

For tickets, visit http://www.oursinatra.com

Running time: 100 minutes without an intermission