Review: Tony Danza Honors His Hero in SINATRA & STORIES at Café Carlyle

The crowd watched with bated breath on Wednesday, September 18 as Tony Danza, star of hit TV shows Taxi and Who's the Boss, wended his way through the tables at Café Carlyle to the stage. The star launched into “Come Fly With Me,” the perfect song to set the tone for his Frank Sinatra tribute show. Danza is packed to the gills with charm, much like his hero Sinatra. “I don’t know if you noticed, but I’m back by popular demand,” Danza said, grinning and mock-grandstanding, to uproarious laughs from the audience.

Tony Danza’s residency at the Carlyle began on Tuesday and runs nightly through Sunday, September 22nd. (The run is completely sold out, but you can join the waitlist by calling the Carlyle or visiting their website.) Danza said the Carlyle is his favorite place to perform and it’s easy to see why – he seems right at home amid the intimacy and old-school grandeur of the venue, surrounded by Ludwig Bemelmans' lovely murals. You can watch him while enjoying the Carlyle's fine food and drink menu.

His show, aptly named Sinatra and Stories, runs through scads of Sinatra classics you know from way back when, interspersed with Danza’s stories about his connection to Sinatra: how his mother turned him on to the music to begin with, and how he met the man himself once he became a star in his own right and became friends with him. Danza is kind of a Sintra-like star himself: an old-school Italian American oozing charisma, with vocals to match, a surprise to some. I overheard someone in the audience after the show ended exclaiming to her friend, “I knew he could act of course, but I didn’t know he could sing that well.” If you missed Honeymoon in Vegas, which Danza starred in on Broadway in 2015, I suppose you might not know Tony Danza could sing, but this show will set the record straight. Although Danza apologized in the beginning for a shaky voice as he’s getting over a cold, the audience quickly roared, “You sound great!” He sounds more than great, and the audience was hanging on his every word, every note all night.

One of my favorite moments from the evening that I think points to Danza’s impeccable stage presence, grace and good-natured attitude came when, in the middle of a quiet rendition of “It Was a Very Good Year,” a cell phone when off. Without altering his vocal tone or stopping the song for even a second, Danza quickly flashed a smile at the offender, as if to say, “I get it and I’m not mad but will you turn that thing off, please?” When it was off a half second later, Danza returned to the performance as normal, giving the song the full poignant sadness and bittersweet reflection it was due.  The entire interaction probably lasted less than five seconds, but I think it speaks to Danza’s wonderful showmanship. Even while he is vocally in a song, his mind and body are in the moment, alive. Danza’s connection to the audience at the intimate Café Carlyle setting was palpable.

There were plenty of appreciative gasps from the audience at Danza’s song choices, hearing songs that used to be a mega-hit but don’t receive the airplay they deserve anymore: standards like Jule Styne, Betty Comden and Adolph Green’s “Just in Time,” which Danza delivered in a peppy up-tempo beat. The star was backed by a marvelous band including Dave Schupp on guitar, Ed Caccavale on drums, John Arbo on bass, and Music Director James Sampliner on piano.

In true song-and-dance man fashion, Danza showed off his many talents throughout the night, breaking into an impressive tap routine on “I Can't Believe That You're in Love with Me,” and accompanying himself on ukelele – which Sinatra also played – on several songs. Danza is a magnetic performer, utterly mesmerizing to watch.

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To join the waitlist for the remaining shows, tonight through Sunday night, visit Café Carlyle’s website.

Header photo credit: Jesse Bauer

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