The Wick Theatre in Boca Raton is wrapping up its 2024-2025 season much the way it opened this year’s five-show performance roster. That is, with a rousing tribute to a legendary star. The first show at the Wick paid homage to the comic prowess and enduring legacy of funnyman Groucho Marx.
The final performance — My Way – is a musical tribute to Francis Albert “Frank” Sinatra, the man who made an indelible mark on the vocal music universe – the icon known variously as Old Blue Eyes, “The Voice” and other celebratory monikers.
“I think the ‘Chairman of the Board’ (Sinatra) himself would be thrilled to see how we are honoring his enduring influence with this last show of the season,” said Marilynn A. Wick, executive managing producer. “He was a cultural force who elevated songs to an artform and embodied a sophisticated style and charisma that remains the pinnacle of cool”
Featuring more than 50 Sinatra tunes – some full-length, but most presented in medleys — these songs powered the legendary singer for five decades or more and established his unique and confident style, elegance and a bounty of great music.
The show does not feature impersonators. Rather, four performers present a selection of Sinatra tunes in their own style. Each vocalist gives a personal touch to the New Jersey native’s style and method, bringing verve and buoyancy to his elegant musical selections.
Backed by a live trio led by music director Bobby Peaco along with Ranses Colon on bass and percussionist Michael Dorfman — and featuring the exquisite vocal talents of Mark Sanders, Shelley Keelor and Elizabeth Bedley — My Way offers a fresh, authoritative take on the Sinatra songbook.
Leading the ensemble – and completing the on-stage vocal quartet — is Broadway’s Jeremy Benton – a triple threat who struts his stuff as performer, director and choreographer. He graces the stage with some of his fancy footwork, as do dancers Aaron Atkinson and Kristi Rose Mills, who appear periodically throughout the show.
Created by David Grapes and Todd Olson, based on Olson’s book, this classy and capable production transports the Wick audience back to that swinging era when Ol’ Blue Eyes vocalized some of the 20th century’s most beautiful and popular songs – more than 1,600 in all.
The trip down Memory Lane includes unforgettable tunes like “All of Me,” “Fly Me to the Moon,” “Strangers in the Night,” “The Way You Look Tonight,” “Let’s fall in Love” and “Fly Away,” among others.
Songs are grouped in thematic medleys around such subjects as Broadway, love and marriage, losers and survivors. Singers offer verses as solos and duets which often morph into full ensemble numbers.
There’s also a medley based on cities (“Chicago, Chicago,” “I Love Paris,” “L.A. is My Lady” and naturally, “New York, New York.”) Then there’s “Young Love,” “Summer” and “Love and Marriage” to wrap up the set.
In the second act, performers come out in formal attire. Tuxedos for the men, cocktail dresses for the women. And the specially selected music follows various of themes: A losers’ medley, big flirt assortment, moon variety (which, of course, includes the unforgettable “Fly me to the Moon,” a tune played for American lunar-bound astronauts) and songs for survivors.
Benton, Keeler, Sanders and Bedley use their personal talents and styles to uncork a bevy of wonderful Sinatra-esque material to create a show that flies by on the wings of song. Some melodies of note include: Keelor’s heart-warming “My Funny Valentine;” Bedley’s moving “I Love Paris;” Sanders’ and Benton’s breezy duet, “Summer Wind;” Benton’s charming “Witchcraft” and Sanders’ rambunctious “The Lady is a Tramp.” Keelor and Sanders elegantly cover “Somethin’ Stupid” — a tune originally sung by two Sinatras – Frank and daughter, Nancy.
The show is done just the way Frank would have wanted it: a few stories, a few drinks and plenty of ring-a-ding, knockout tunes. And, of course, the evening is topped off with his classics, “New York, New York” and “My Way.”
