As part of its Legacy season. the Center for Performing Arts presented a tribute performance to The Rat Pack on Feb. 15.

This Rat Pack honored legendary performers Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Dean Martin, and Marilyn Monroe. The tribute actors engaged with the audience, sang iconic songs, and joked along with the audience. The audience was encouraged to sing along with the actors, and some even danced along to the songs.

When asked why the Center chose The Rat Pack to perform this season, it was mentioned that it coincided with the legacy theme, “We picked it because we were thinking about the idea of this being our thirtieth anniversary, and we were trying to do legendary things. Tributes do really well for us,” said Maya Shelton.

The show’s many iconic songs were standards often performed by the original Rat Pack members in the 1960s, such as “That’s Amore,” “Diamonds Are A Girl’s Best Friend,” and “Fly Me To The Moon.”

Audience members said they thought that the performers were wonderful at embodying the idols. “If you close your eyes, you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference,” one person said, regarding the performance of the tribute actors.

Another woman in the audience was impressed by Brian Duprey’s performance, who was the tribute actor for Frank Sinatra, “They were all really great. I’d say Frank Sinatra was spot on. He was amazing.” She says, “We’ll be back.”

Another commented on the quality of the performance compared to the price of the ticket. “The quality of the show, for the price we paid, was ridiculously good, it was such a good value.”

A couple attending the show say they attend the Center’s events four times a year, and they also agreed that the portrayals were extremely accurate. “If you type in ‘Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Frank Sinatra in Las Vegas’ you’ll see them. They did this in Las Vegas. These entertainers were right on.”

“I love Governors State. It’s a golden place on the Southside. I just think it serves a really nice purpose to the people around here. It’s always been a pleasure to come here.”

The actors were in a rush to catch a flight back home, but Brian Duprey and Joe Scalissi, who played Dean Martin, managed to say a few words regarding the inspiration and motivations for their performances as tribute actors.

“Brian Duprey, he’s a got a connection to Frank Sinatra. Same with Kenny Jones, he’s got a connection,” Scalissi said. “Kenny once told me he didn’t really care about Sammy, and somebody asked him to do a Sammy Davis tribute in a rat pack show, so he started studying up on Sammy. And it works for him.

“Same with Jami Duprey, who played Marilyn Monroe. Jami and Marilyn Monroe have way too much in common. Spiritually. We all connect to our characters.”

When asked how he chose his character, he insisted that the performers often gravitate towards people they naturally relate to. “You know, when you can feel a relationship, or something in common. Commonalities.”

Duprey and Scalissi agree that being a tribute actor is not simply imitating.

“It’s research, watching videos of these guys. Just in appreciation for that kind of music, their careers, and having a passion for that sort of time period,” Duprey said. “I think it’s a combination of all of those things, and a willingness to enact, not imitating, but recreating that vibe and feeling.”

Scalissi’s preparation for the show is not preparing at all. “I don’t try to copy everything he did, I just let it happen. It’s organic,” he said.

Overall, the performers did a wonderful job enacting and embodying these idols.