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player ready...Part of the magic of a theatrical experience is that audience members can wonder, “What if…?”
Legendary performers Frank Sinatra and Barbra Streisand never appeared together on stage, but the tribute show, “Barbra & Frank: The Concert That Never Was…” seemingly answers the “What if…?” question.
“When we wrote the show, it was a fantasy thing,” said Sebastian Anzaldo, who portrays Frank Sinatra. “I’m the Frank from the ’60s. Sharon Owens’ portrayal of Barbra is more 1980s. We thought, ‘What if they did a show together?’ They never did, so we can create what would have been.”
“Barbra & Frank: The Concert That Never Was…” will be presented at 3 and 7 p.m. June 11 at the Paramount Theatre in Aurora.
“We open together with ‘I’ve Got a Crush on You,'” Anzaldo said. “We do some more songs together, then we banter. We poke fun at each other. Then I introduce her and she does her segment. Then I do my segment and the last one-third of the show we do together.”
Backed by a six-piece band, the songs that the duo perform together include: “New York, New York” and “You Make Me Feel So Young.” Other songs in the show include: “My Way,” “That’s Life,” “The Way We Were” and “Don’t Rain on My Parade.”
Although Sinatra and Streisand were almost a generation apart, that does not diminish the duo’s appeal, according to Anzaldo.
“She sang a lot of standards and some pop hits.” Anzaldo said. “I think they both appeal to the same people with that taste in music. Really, he was the greatest male voice of the 20th century and she is the greatest female voice of the 20th century.”
Selecting which songs they would sing together took some research.
“We’d watch Sinatra on his old TV shows and maybe Dinah Shore was on his show as a guest one time and we thought ‘Barbra could sing that with Frank,'”Anzaldo said, “so we picked some ideas from that.”
Research also played a part in Anzaldo perfecting the Sinatra persona.
“I listened to his records and got the phrasing,” said Anzaldo, who began playing drums and singing at 11 years of age. “Being a drummer, his phrasing was easy for me. And as a baritone, the voice is similar.
“The music is the first thing,” he continued. “Then you have to play the swagger, but in a charming way. Then you get the look together and be the character without being clownish.”
Anzaldo takes every detail into account.
“The tuxedo needs to be a certain way,” he said. “You cannot wear a prom tux. I have brown eyes, so I wear blue contact lenses. I become him when I hit the stage.”
And he enjoys every minute of it.
“I do it for a living, but I get to play this iconic character singing these great songs,” Anzaldo said. “It is a joy.”
Randall G. Mielke is a freelance writer for The Beacon-News.
“Barbra & Frank: The Concert That Never Was …”
When: 3 and 7 p.m. June 11
Where: Paramount Theatre, 23 E. Galena Blvd., Aurora
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Tickets: $35
Information: 630-896-6666; www.paramountaurora.com