Perfect take on Ol’ Blue Eyes himself

Nancy Sinatra, the daughter of Ol’ Blue Eyes himself, confessed that Frank Sinatra tribute David Alacey’s rendition of New York, New York was “far too close for comfort”.

You can judge for yourself when David tours to Horsham’s Capitol with the show Rat Pack Is Back (Saturday, April 14).

David, who trained as an actor at The Italia Conti Academy in London, recorded a note-perfect version of the classic song for use as the signature tune to a new computer game to be released by Atari.

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Accompanied by a 42 piece orchestra, David spent a day in London’s Abbey Road recording studios recreating New York, New York for use on the game Tycoon City New York.

“Performing New York, New York is second nature to me. In the 15 years I’ve been playing Sinatra, I’ve sung it live more than 1,500 times,” says David.

“In the studio it was a matter of going over absolutely every syllable separately to ensure it was a really spot-on cover.

“New York, New York was recorded in 1980, Frank would have been 65 years old,” says David.

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“There needs to be subtle changes to the phrasing to his earlier recordings to ensure you create an authentic version of the song.”

David can be seen as Sinatra in The Rat Pack Is Back, with Paul Drakley as Dean Martin and Des Coleman as Sammy Davis Jnr at The Capitol.

The Rat Pack were the definition of cool during their 50s and 60s Vegas heyday. Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jnr, collectively known as the Rat Pack, combined the sound of swing with charisma, panache and swagger. The trio had attitude to spare, as David says.

“It’s the UK’s original Rat Pack concert show, a brilliant production with real musical pedigree,” says David “We are really looking forward to coming to The Capitol Theatre. We just love playing to a theatre audience there is nothing like it.

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Soap opera fans will recall Des Coleman as Lenny in EastEnders, the part he played for more than four years. Since then, Des has been seen regularly as a reporter on The One Show also for The BBC, when not touring as Sammy Davis Jnr with The Rat Pack is Back.

The band is led by Don Hunt, a musical director who actually worked with Sammy Davis Jnr on two TV specials.

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