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Edinburgh Fringe 2010

The Pink Sinatra

Scott Free

Genre: Burlesque, Cabaret

Venue: www.remarkable-arts.com

Festival:


Low Down

Scott Free brings his highly acclaimed new show, the Pink Sinatra , to the Hill St Theatre for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 5-30 August, after entertaining audiences with sell-out shows at the Brighton Festival Fringe in May. Join award-winning singer Scott in cabaret for a light-hearted romp through Sinatra’s classic songs and Rat Pack era swing music, with a pink twist! Accompanied by a swingin’ soundtrack, his set includes timeless tunes such as Mr Bojangles, New York, New York and Fly Me to the Moon.

Review

Scott bounds onto the stage and wastes no time kicking off his canny impersonation of Frank, he has a superb voice, he can mimic Sinatra’s nuances and has a vocal range that comfortably reaches the highs and lows of each ballad. With every line he delivers , he convinces me that he means it. He interacts with the audience with the ease of a seasoned professional. Bringing a young man onstage he seductively woos him and object of his attention enjoys it. It’s obvious this audience know what they want. Frank songs sung like Frank. Behind me several people sing along, accurate on every word, cheering madly when Scott finishes. He gently teases the audience and they adore him. His banter is inoffensive and the age range of all the onlookers are catered for. Pensioners hold hands and young karaoke singers belt out the well known reprises with a genuine disregard for the other audience members,
 
In this mason’s club, that is the Hill Street theatre venue, the small room is sold out and it has enough intimacy for Scott to embrace almost every audience member and for him to sing directly into your eyes. Scott secures a kiss for males and females at appropriate lyrical points and you can feel the investment from audience members as they reminisce of long ago romantic encounters and nights where they’ve sung their hearts out.
Scott Free is a skilled mimic and beefs up his shows content with Sammy Davis Juniors, “Mr Bojangles”. If you close your eyes those top notes ring out like Sammy’s. He sings for almost an hour in front of a simple twinkling backdrop, that after a while, being lulled and seduced by his glorious voice, you feel as though it’s Las Vegas. He engages the audience by getting them to sing along with their favourites. Surreptitiously introducing each song which gives them the opportunity to participate in t he game as their excitement meets a hook line they recognise.
 
If you are a major Frank Sinatra fan, and know all about his highs and lows. Be it great tabloid romances such as Ava Gardener, or his successful collaborative arrangements with Nelson Riddle, or even Frank, the final years, then this show is definitely for you. I would have liked Scott to talk a bit about the Frank, we all think we know and love, between songs.  That type of performer doesn’t really exist anymore.  Also to cover some of his more obscure numbers, he has a prolific back catalogue to select from.  I sat anticipating the relevance of the colour pink. Scott really sings like Sinatra and there is very little that is pink about that.
 
This voice though is a dream come true. His flawless and tender version of, “It Was a Very Good Year”, made me want to listen to the original again with new ears. This show makes one hanker after a bygone era. After being loosened up by Scott’s vocal expertise, this is the perfect performance to set the mood for the beginning of a long night of partying.

  

Published