By Steven J. Smith
Frank Sinatra and John Lennon, two iconic 20th-century figures in popular music, will be celebrated this month at the Kravis Center.
Multi-platinum selling, five-time Grammy-nominated entertainer Michael Feinstein will bring his talents to the Dreyfoos Jr. Concert Hall at 8 p.m. Monday, Feb. 22, for his second of a three-concert series at the Kravis Center — this time in a program called “Sinatra’s 100th Celebration.”
“Many years ago I had the opportunity to meet and know Sinatra,” Feinstein said. “It happened unexpectedly and serendipitously. He was very nice to me. I was a nobody and he treated me with kindness and respect and I’ve never forgotten that. I was invited to his home for dinner and had the opportunity to speak to him about music and many other things. It was that extraordinary experience that always made me want to say thank you to him in some way. I think this concert does that.”
Feinstein added he has performed several versions of his Sinatra show. He also recorded an album called The Sinatra Project in 2008, which was a great success. Since then, he said he has done a number of “Sinatra-centric” concerts and was grateful for the opportunity to bring one to the Kravis Center.
“Sinatra fundamentally changed the way that we listen to the Great American Songbook,” he said. “He was always searching for fresh and different ways to interpret songs that were, even in the 1930s and 1940s when he first sang them, sometimes 10 or 15 years old. He wanted to make them immediate and he did that by the accompaniment; by the various orchestrations and arrangers with whom he worked — most notably in the 1950s, when he started collaborating with Nelson Riddle. They created a new swing sound that has become the standard way in which many people think of and hear this music.”
Feinstein’s tribute will consist of a cross-section of Sinatra’s work, he added, with the assistance of the Kravis Center Pops Orchestra, conducted by Larry Blank.
“It will be a great variety of songs that trace his beginnings through this extraordinary 60-year career,” he said. “There will be a lot of classic Sinatra songs. There will be that very familiar swing sound. There will also be many lush ballads and we’ll present some original orchestrations that in some cases haven’t been heard for 50 years. It will be a genuine celebration of the breadth of Sinatra’s musical contribution, with a lot of fun anecdotes interspersed along the way.”
Lennon: Through a Glass Onion, according to British actor and singer John R. Waters, is part spoken word, part concert and all heart as he and accompanist Stewart D’Arrietta take the audience on a journey of John Lennon’s genius and artistry.
“It isn’t a play, that much is clear,” Waters said. “I don’t dress up or wear little round glasses, but when I speak, it is in a Liverpool brogue similar to that of John Lennon. Everything is delivered out front as a monologue, and the songs and spoken word swim one into the other in a dreamlike kind of way. ‘Lennon’ is seeing many of the big issues of his life in rapid replay as the assassin’s bullets fly through the air. His wonderfully autobiographical songs become part of the ‘text.’”
With just sound, lights, a black stage, an acoustic piano and an acoustic guitar, Waters said his show is a performance piece that evokes Lennon’s life and thoughts — both real and imagined.
“It isn’t, I don’t think, necessary to ‘like’ Lennon or be a fan of any kind to get something out of this show,” he insisted. “What I hope is that our audience will be entertained, of course, but also that they will maybe leave the theater thinking and reflecting on the issues that he and Yoko raised, as well as having an understanding of a man who overcame the anger of an abandonment by both parents and used his intelligence and talents in constructive ways.”
Born on the fringe of southwest London, Waters accepted “a cheap offer of a trip to Australia” at the age of 19. While he was there, playing music and taking occasional acting roles, he was approached in 1992 by some cabaret promoters to fill a three-week slot for them.
“I hastily called Stewart and said, ‘I have a show for the two of us,’” he said. “It’s a kind of ‘John Lennon’s dying dream’ sort of thing.’ We opened for the three weeks and by the third night we had people hanging from the rafters.”
Waters added Lennon: Through a Glass Onion makes an emotional impact on the audience, which happens organically, without any artifice or undue striving on the part of the performers. And his show resonates profoundly within himself.
“Call me an old hippie, but I believe in striving for world peace,” he said. “In fact, I believe most humans on this planet feel the same way. It just isn’t good business for those who direct our lives. Maybe we should stop letting the same people do that to us. It’s worth a thought. Lennon suggested we start by ‘imagining’ it. In some small way we might nudge people in that direction and that, for me, would be the best result of all.”
Lennon: Through a Glass Onion runs 13 performances at Helen K. Persson Hall at the Kravis Center from Feb. 18-28. Tickets are $40. Sinatra’s 100th Celebration plays one night only at 8 p.m. Monday, Feb. 22, in the center’s Dreyfoos Hall. Ticket prices start at $30. The Kravis Center is located at 701 Okeechobee Blvd. in West Palm Beach. For more information, call the box office at 561-832-7469 or log on to www.kravis.org.