The ‘Centennial Celebration’ Celebrates Frank Sinatra’s 100th Birthday
By Teresa Bergen, Special To PubClub.com
I wasn’t sure what to expect from a Frank Sinatra, Jr., concert. Would he sing his own music? His dad’s?
It turned out that the performance I caught at Palm Desert’s McCallum Theatre outside of Palm Springs, CA, was a special tribute to celebrate what would have been Frank Senior’s 100th birthday.
It’s called “Sinatra Sings Sinatra: The Centennial Celebration.”
So in this case, it was all “dad’s” songs, plus accompanying projections on a big screen commemorating Sinatra’s life and career.
The only bad part of the show was how hard it was not to sing along to the songs. I caught myself singing a few lines of “High Hopes” before I’d even realized I’d opened my mouth. And talking to folks afterward, I learned I wasn’t the only one having that problem.
The McCallum Theatre was the perfect place to see this show.
Palm Desert is one of the nine towns in the greater Palm Springs area. Sinatra fell in love with the desert and built a Palm Springs home in 1947, becoming a pillar of the region’s movie star-laden history. Sinatra, Jr.’s show was packed with current desert dwellers and visitors catching a whiff of that old glamour.
The son of the famous man is now 72 years old. At the McCallum, Sinatra, Jr., was in fine voice, and seemed very comfortable fronting a 36-piece band. In between songs, he told stories about his father, sisters and some of his father’s famous friends.
While the show mentioned his dad’s dark side, it sidestepped mob connections. Nor did it revisit the major dis when Bobby Kennedy, then attorney general, persuaded brother and President Jack to cancel his stay at Sinatra’s Palm Springs compound due to the singer’s ties with organized crime.
But then, if you can’t count on family to whitewash your memory, who can you count on?
If you missed Frank Sinatra, Jr.’s Palm Desert dates, you still have time to catch him at other places around the country, primarily in Florida.
Frank Sinatra Jr. Sinatra Sings Sinatra: The Centennial Celebration 2016 Tour Dates & Venues
March 10 — Fort Pierce, FL, Sunrise Theatre
March 11 — Miami, FL, Knight Concert Hall, Adrienne Arsht Center
March 13 — St Petersburg, FL, Mahaffey Theater, Progress Energy Center for the Arts
March 13 — Melbourne, FL, Maxwell C. King Center for the Performing Arts
March 16 — Daytona Beach, FL, Peabody Auditorium
March 17 — St Petersburg, FL, Mahaffey Theater, Progress Energy Center for the Arts
May 19 — Davenport, IA, Adler Theatre, RiverCenter
Or, if you’re visiting Palm Desert, you can catch Jack Jones singing Frank Sinatra songs at the McCallum Theatre on March 4.
You may visit the author’s website at: www.teresabergen.com
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