GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM Sherry Chock Wong and Elitei Tatafu Jr. star in Manoa Valley Theatre's "My Way."

MVT promises rollicking
Sinatra tribute

Can the popularity of the late Frank Sinatra translate into a blockbuster show for Manoa Valley Theatre? That is the question as MVT prepares to open its 36th season with "My Way," a "stylish musical tribute" to Sinatra, on Wednesday.

'My Way' Presented by Manoa Valley Theatre, 2833 E. Manoa Road Onstage: 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays, 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, and 4 p.m. Sundays through Sept. 19 Tickets: $30 ($5 discount for seniors and military; $15 discount for ages 25 and younger) Call: 988-6131 or visit www.manoavalleytheatre.com

Lightweight musical revues such as "Forever Plaid," "A Closer Walk With Patsy Cline" and "Beehive" have proved more appealing to MVT audiences in years past than issue-driven plays or sophisticated comedies, and in a business in which the bottom line is the "bottom line," MVT needs a blockbuster to get the 2004-05 season off to a good start.

None of the productions in the theater group's last season was a blockbuster, even though two of the shows -- "Batboy: The Musical" and "Gunfighter" -- were honored at the 2004 Po'okela Awards this summer.

So Jamie Rolfsmeyer, Elitei Tatafu, David Vega and Sherry Chock Wong are starring as "two suave, sexy couples" in "My Way," a show that promises to "honor the memory" of Sinatra without being "an evening of Frank Sinatra impersonations."

MVT also promises that "My Way" will not be the type of karaoke-style tribute to Sinatra that Jack Cione and Randy Smith presented in Waikiki a few years ago. A jazz trio is providing the music for a "nostalgic two-hour musical journey" that contains snippets of 56 Sinatra hits.

Sight lines are good for MVT productions except when shows are presented with cabaret-style seating. Much of the action in MVT's two cabaret-style productions of "Song of Singapore" could not be seen by the entire audience, and "My Way" is also being presented cabaret style. Sinatra fans who want a decent view of the action might want to arrive much earlier than usual.