The Man from Snowy River is the Man in the Hat

When we chat about his upcoming tour of ‘Frank, a Life in Song’, which will see him in Tassie during October, Tom Burlinson tells me he still remembers fondly his 1980 tour, when he visited Burnie, Launceston and Hobart with the play ‘The One Day of the Year’.

Tom agrees there must have been an element of fate, serendipity or whatever you want to call it in his becoming a premier performer of Frank Sinatra’s songs. Literally a lifelong admirer of Sinatra, Tom can remember back as a toddler asking his mum to put on the record of ‘the man in the hat’ .As Tom grew older he realised his voice bore an uncanny similarity to Sinatra’s. It’s a feat of nature that the two possess such a closeness in voice but that doesn’t mean Tom doesn’t do his research and work hard to perfect that gift. Tom listens carefully to Sinatra’s recordings and tweaks his own voice a little here and there to faithfully produce the different sounds of Frank, from the ‘lyrical’ sound of Sinatra’s voice in the 40’s to the 50’s sound and the ‘demonstrative staccato’ of the older Sinatra.

Fate intervened when Tom performed some Sinatra on Ray Martins ‘Midday Show’ he sent the recording to the Sinatra family who were making a TV movie of Frank’s life and so impressed were they that Tom’s voice was chosen by the family for the young Sinatra’s voice in the movie.

With his extensive acting experience Tom has been able to use his performance skills to bring Sinatra story to life however Tom doesn’t attempt to impersonate Sinatra apart from wearing the obligatory tuxedo. Tom tells me of some performers who go to great lengths to recreate the Sinatra experience, from prosthetic make up to having a 32 piece orchestra as back up. Just because Tom doesn’t impersonate Sinatra physically it should be noted that audiences who have attended his shows say that when they close their eyes they believe they are listening to the real deal and others question is Tom channelling Sinatra, so perfect is his rendition of the songs..

Tom tells me that through the various versions of his Sinatra shows over the years he has been able to swap around some of the songs, so extensive is the repertoire, there is plenty to choose from! Most recently ‘Stranger in the Night’ has been a favourite of the audiences, who have also requested ‘It was a very good year’. Tom is flexible, in that if he hears someone from the audience shout out a request he will do his best to accommodate it.

You can see Tom perform in Tasmania in ‘Frank: A Life in Song

PRINCESS THEATRE, LAUNCESTON – Friday 9th October, 2015
Bookings: (03) 6323 3666

BURNIE ARTS CENTRE – Saturday 10th October, 2015
Bookings: (03) 6430 5850

THEATRE ROYAL, HOBART – Sunday 11th October, 2015
Bookings: (03) 6233 2299
Paula Xiberras