The Birmingham Rep will co-produce Sinatra The Musical, a brand new theatrical experience based on the life and career of the legendary artist and cultural icon Frank Sinatra, with Michele Anthony, Bruce Resnikoff and Scott Landis for Universal Music Group Theatrical, and Tina Sinatra and Charles Pignone on behalf of Frank Sinatra Enterprises.
Sinatra The Musical will premiere at Birmingham Rep on Saturday 23 September and run until Saturday 28 October 2023. The show’s debut in Birmingham coincides with the 70th Anniversary of Sinatra’s 1953 UK tour, which saw him perform in the city. Sinatra The Musical is bought to the stage by a world class creative team including two-time Tony Award-winning writer Joe DiPietro (What’s New Pussycat? and Memphis) and Olivier Award-winning and three-time Tony Award-winning director & choreographer, Kathleen Marshall (Anything Goes and The Pajama Game).
Tina Sinatra:
“I am very proud of our new musical production and I’m especially delighted that, for the first time, we’re going to give you a perspective on my father that you’ve never seen before.”
It is New Year’s Eve, 1942, and a skinny 27-year-old Italian American singer is about to step onto the stage of New York’s Paramount Theatre and give a performance that will change music history. As Frank Sinatra’s career suddenly skyrockets, he struggles with balancing the love of his wife, Nancy, against the demands and temptations of being the most popular singer in America.
But when he begins a torrid affair with movie goddess Ava Gardner, his records stop selling and the press turns against him, sending his career into a tailspin. Driven by his devotion to his family, Sinatra employs his peerless artistry and dogged determination to stage the greatest comeback in showbiz history.
Joe DiPietro:
“Growing up, there were two pictures hanging in my grandmother’s kitchen — The Pope and Frank Sinatra. So to sit down with Tina Sinatra and hear stories of her father which no one else knows, and then to be able to put those stories on stage – well I think it’ll make for an unexpected and thrilling new musical. We’ll be showing you how the man became the legend and how the legend was — at the end of the day — just a man. And I couldn’t be more excited that our world premiere is at Birmingham Rep, where I had such a phenomenal time working on What’s New, Pussycat?”
Joe DiPietro is the winner of two Tony Awards, a Drama Desk Award and three Outer Critics Circle Awards. His musicals and plays have received thousands of productions across the country and around the world.
His new comedy, Babbitt, starring Matthew Broderick, will premiere at La Jolla Playhouse this autumn. His most recent musical, What’s New Pussycat? played to critical and popular acclaim when it premiered at The Rep last year.
Kathleen Marshall is a nine-time Tony Award nominee, winning three times for Best Choreography for the Broadway revivals of Wonderful Town, The Pajama Game and Anything Goes. She recently received an Olivier Award for her choreography of the West End production of Anything Goes. She has worked on more than twenty Broadway shows and she is the first woman who has directed a play, directed a musical and choreographed a musical on Broadway.
Sinatra The Musical is the first of a series of new projects and initiatives developed by FSE in partnership with Universal Music Group that will help introduce new audiences and fans to the timeless singer’s rich catalogue and superstar legacy.
Sinatra The Musical will premiere at Birmingham Rep on Saturday 23 September and run until Saturday 28 October 2023. Tickets are on sale now at birmingham-rep.co.uk.
