Get ready for some crooning

Music icon Frank Sinatra’s songs are set to ignite SA stages in 2019, in a big band international show, Sinatra and Me.

British performer Richard Shelton, pictured, who plays Sinatra, has been described as “one of the world’s finest Sinatra impersonators”.

Shelton is an award-winning actor and singer and his show comes directly from the West End and Los Angeles.

He will be accompanied on stage by Adam Howard’s 17-piece Joburg Big Band.

The show kicks off in Durban at the Rockwood Theatre on March 12 with four shows, before heading to Gauteng’s The Mandela at Joburg Theatre from March 21.

“I’m very excited to be making my first visit to South Africa,” Shelton says, “and being in the position to combine my two passions, travel and the music of Frank Sinatra.”

He will perform hits including I’ve Got You Under My Skin, Fly Me to the Moon, It Was a Very Good Year and One For My Baby, as well as lesser known hits such as My Foolish Heart.

Shelton claims close ties to the late star. “One of many incredible coincidences included how his tuxedo literally walked into my life – a fact which was verified by Sir Roger Moore (James Bond) on live TV. I was also one of the last people to be inside Sinatra’s last home as it was being demolished. It was completely by chance.

“Naturally, my biggest influence is the music of Sinatra but also vocal stylings from singers such as Billie Holliday, Ella Fitzgerald and Tony Bennett.

“I’m drawn to musical arrangements that allow the lyrics to flow. You have to be able to tell a story first and foremost. Unless you make the lyrics really mean something for the audience, you have nothing.”