For co-creators David Grapes II and Todd Olson, what began as an economic expediency, has turned into an enduring adventure.
In 1999, Grapes was working as the producing artistic director of Tennessee Repertory Theatre in Nashville. He was looking for a simple, small-cast show that could be done in the summer to subsidize the costs of the company's big-cast classics such as "Cyrano de Bergerac" and "The Importance of Being Earnest."
"The truth is those shows are expensive," Grapes says. "We needed some smaller shows for a theater with limited space onstage and in the orchestra pit."
Frank Sinatra had died the year before, and, as long-time fans, Grapes and Olson were familiar with the myriad of tribute shows that had blossomed.
But he wanted to take a different approach.
"I love the music. I love the man," says Grapes, who has 1,300 Sinatra songs on his iPod. "I wanted to create a theater piece, not something that would take an impersonator to do. The songs are iconic to Sinatra and what he liked to do."
The idea was to showcase the essence of the man, his life, his loves and his contradictions through his music.
The result was "My Way: A Musical Tribute to Frank Sinatra," an homage to the man and his music. The revue distilled the nearly 1,400 songs Sinatra recorded down to 56 selections, performed in part or entirety by a cast of four.
The goal was to find great Sinatra songs that will draw people in and that they will have emotional attachment to, Grapes says.
"The music always comes first. It's what attracts people. It has a mix of familiar big, iconic hits ("All the Way," "It Was a Very Good Year," "New York, New York") and songs that intrigued," Grapes says. "People forget songs like 'I Guess I'll Hang My Tears Out to Dry' or songs by (Brazilian Bossa Nova interpreter and guitarist) Antonio Carlos Jobim, like 'Dindi' and 'Wave,' that have a fun Latin feel."
At first, Grapes and Olson had no expectations for the show's future. They didn't even bother to license it.
It was only when they began getting calls from other theater companies interested in performing it that they realized this could be the start of something big.
"We found our own little market for this," Grapes says.
Since its debut at Tennessee Repertory Theatre in 2000, more than 200 U.S. companies have performed the revue including Mountain Playhouse in Jennerstown, Valley Players of Ligonier, Pittsburgh Musical Theatre and the now defunct Canterbury Dinner Theatre in McKees Rocks.
Grapes has directed 15 productions of the revue.
Now the director of the School of Theatre Arts and Dance at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley and the executive producer of Little Theatre of the Rockies (the university's professional summer stock company), Grapes is selective about which productions he directs.
He chose to direct the CLO Cabaret production for reasons both professional and personal. "I knew the group, and its reputation is outstanding. It has a nice, long run so you can set things up and they get a chance to settle in," he says.
He's also a native of Parkersburg, W.Va., where his parents still live.
"I never did a show in Pittsburgh, and I knew my parents would come up to see it," he says.
Additional Information:'My Way: A Musical Tribute to Frank Sinatra'
Produced by: CLO Cabaret
When: Thursday-May 10, with performances at 7:30 p.m. most Wednesdays-Fridays, 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays and 1 p.m. on select Thursdays
Admission: $34.50 for matinees, $39.50 for evenings
Where: Cabaret at Theater Square, Downtown
Details: 412-456-6666
