'Sinatra Meets The Sopranos' show headed for NYCB Theatre at Westbury
What singer Michael Martocci calls "the two most powerful Italian names in the entertainment business" will come together at the NYCB Theatre at Westbury on May 4 for the musical revue "Sinatra Meets The Sopranos," featuring actors Steve Schirripa (Bobby Baccalieri), Michael Imperioli (Christopher Moltisanti) and Vincent Pastore (Sal Bonpensiero) from the groundbreaking HBO show, which recently marked the 20th anniversary of its launch.
Martocci, 56 — who had worked for Frank Sinatra organizing VIP ticketing packages — says that before the legendary crooner's death in 1998, Sinatra had asked him and others including conductor and musical director Vincent Falcone "to keep his music alive." With Falcone supplying Sinatra's original charts, Martocci has performed the late singer's hits ever since, starting with a 40-piece orchestra as comedian Don Rickles' opening act for five years.
Last year Schirripa — who before becoming an actor had been entertainment director of the Riviera hotel-casino in Las Vegas, where Sinatra often performed — told childhood friend Martocci about his touring show pegged to the "The Sopranos." Martocci said he was inspired to combine the two revues when the Count Basie Center for the Arts in Red Bank, New Jersey, asked him to be the performer at the venue's annual Sinatra birthday concert.
Noting that he is not a Sinatra impersonator but rather a singer using the original arrangements, Martocci and a 22-piece orchestra perform roughly 15 classics in the two-hour show. The three "Sopranos" stars tell backstage stories and take audience questions. Comedian Joey Kola, of North Bellmore and Bay Shore, serves as emcee and moderator.
There is also an eight-minute "Sopranos" highlight reel of the actors, Martocci says — adding, with a laugh, "It ends with clips of all three getting whacked!"
Tickets go on sale for the event on Friday at 10 a.m. at livenation.com.