'Live' from New York - Sinatra's latest comeback
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Your support makes all the difference.Once there would have been nothing extraordinary about news that Frank Sinatra is to perform at New York's Radio City Hall. But his appearance there this October - his 13th concert on the fabled stage - comes five years after Ol' Blue Eyes died.
His passing, at 82, did nothing to dent the popularity of the crooner they called Chairman of the Board. A new book about him by his former valet, George Jacobs, is flying off the shelves. Sales of his albums are as strong as ever. And the New York Metropolitan Ballet has just announced plans for a tribute to Sinatra which will tour and be performed on television.
"I don't look at it as a resurgence," said Joe Amodei, head of Hart Sharp Video, which has just released a new DVD compilation of Sinatra duets. "I think the music and the aura of the man keeps it all alive - like Elvis and the Beatles."
Nothing as ambitious as the Radio City show has been attempted before, however. For 10 days in October, the venue will be home to "Sinatra: His Voice, His World, His Way". Sinatra will be there, if not actually in person. Organisers say his image will be projected on to 40ft-high moveable panels and screens. The intention is to make Frank arise from the dead, in all-singing, three-dimensional form. Aside from footage of original stage performances, fans will see previously unreleased snippets of film from Sinatra's private life and studio sessions.
Keeping him "company" through at least five numbers will be the high-kicking Radio City Rockettes. "Our audiences will feel like they are experiencing Sinatra's life first hand, through a complex combination of live performance effects, theatrical effects, video, film and the most modern staging techniques available," said Des McAnuff, creative director for the evening.
His family, which remains fiercely protective of the Chairman's legacy, seem pleased. "My dad loved everything about Radio City - the history, the stage, the audiences, the backstage crew," said his youngest daughter, Tina Sinatra.
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