Relive the magic of Frank Sinatra with Kaye Riley at a Christmas special at Kyra this Thursday
Relive the magic of Frank Sinatra with Kaye Riley at a Christmas special at Kyra this Thursday
Circa 1930: Your momma told you to beware of the boys with blue eyes, but when Frank Sinatra crooned Ol' Blue Eyes and Strangers in the night, every woman waited with bated breath to chance upon that stranger with those dazzling blue eyes. Then followed a spate of love hits The way you look tonight, Young at heart and many more beauties. His voice was indeed worthy to die for.u00a0
Circa 2009: Kaushik Shankar aka Kaye Riley dons the cap of Frank Sinatra on stage. He croons and the women still swoon.u00a0u00a0
The Voice. The Sultan of Swoon. The Chairman of the Board. Ol' Blue Eyes. The Greatest Singer of the Popular Song. Names that describe but one man, heralded as one of the greatest entertainers of the 20 Century. A man whose career success spanned more than 50 years, enjoying popularity with each successive generation. Frank Sinatra, the golden boy of Hollywood will come to life this Christmas Eve and we decided to get up close and personal with his new avatar.
In conversation with Kaye Riley...
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Why Sinatra?
I pretty much grew up on my dad's collection of musicu00a0-- Elvis Presley, Aretha Franklin, Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Connie Francis, Dean Martin, Nat King Cole and loads of such artists from that era. I love everything related to the 50s and 60s, and anything that's considered Vintage Hollywood, be it the movies, the music, the elaborate clothing, the cars, the works, you name it, I like it. My personal affair with Sinatra's music started when I heard his song 'Young at Heart'. This led to acquiring pretty much every single album he had recorded.
What I connect with is the fact that the music and the lyrics actually go hand in hand for most songs of that era. I personally hate most music, rather sounds, that come out these daysu00a0-- Rap, I don't see the poetry in it, Trance, another set of random sounds and the like. The fact that Sinatra's music is timeless even today is a testament to how good the music actually is!
Your performance has quite a few stories from Sinatra's life. How did you go about trying to find these stories about him?
Five people from that era have completely captivated meu00a0-- Frank Sinatra, Marilyn Monroe, Natalie Wood, Gregory Peck and Katherine Hepburn. Needless to say, this fascination led to the reading up of as much as possible on each of them, watching their movies and all their works. The biographies of Frank Sinatra, Ava Gardner and Natalie Wood gave me the stories I wanted to use in the show. The torrid romance of Frank Sinatra and Ava Gardner is legendaryu00a0-- their tumultuous courtship, to Frank becoming an alcoholic when Ava left him, was also some fodder for the performance. The extensive research on Frank when I decided to do the show pretty much led me to these stories.
You have reworked the piece and tamed it down since it was first staged. What have you tossed out?
The original private production in October '09 was all about Sinatra and his women, in particular Lauren Bacall, Natalie Wood, Ava Gardner, Sofia Loren and Barbara Marx. It was a 'full-fledged' musical in a sense because the show followed Frank's journey through his women by showcasing the beginnings and ends of each of those relationships. I played Frank and an actress played the various women. Considering it was a 'musical' and that the attention spans of most in the audience are often painfully low, the number of songs was limited to twelve.
While people loved the show, they wanted more music and less talk. The biggest problem when you're doing a musical tribute to someone as legendary as Sinatra is that the icon has to always be a hero. Nobody wants to see his or her icon miserable in love, more so considering he is the king of romance.
You seem to be interested in the essence of the man, the legend in Sinatra. Is there a contemporary pop icon that comes close to being like him?
There are three things that count as his essence: his voice, his originality and his versatility. Having said that, I personally feel three modern artists capture a little of that Sinatra magic:
a.Michael Bubleu00a0-- because he has undoubtedly brought Sinatra to the masses with several of his covers.
b.Mikau00a0-- completely original pure pop perfection and
c.Lady Gagau00a0-- whose originality is at its peak right now! I'm curious to see how or if the 'system' changes her.
What should one expect at the Sinatra concert?
If you are thinking about coming to this show to see me impersonate Sinatra then this is the wrong show for you. The goal of My Way has always been to construct a musical revue that recalls the essence of the man through the glorious music he sang. You need to be there to celebrate Sinatra's mystique and his myth; through the medium he loved bestu00a0-- the American standard. The musical starts with Strangers in the Night and ends with My Way and features a total of 25 of Sinatra's greatest hits. This is the music that we've grown to. This is a musician we idolize and respect.u00a0
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My Way: A Tribute to Frank Sinatra,
On: December 24
At: Kyra Theatre, Indiranagar, 7.30 pm
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