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Men Were Men, Eyes Were Blue

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By WALT BELCHER

wbelcher@tampatrib.com

Published: March 22, 2009

TAMPA - It was a hot night in Vegas in 1960 when three swaggering pals took the stage at the Sands Hotel to sing, crack jokes and live up to their personas as free-wheeling, fun-loving bad boys.

Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. were the kings of cool, says Stephen Triffitt, who has performed as Sinatra more than 6,000 times.

Triffitt and fellow performers Phil Barley (as Dino) and David Hayes (as Sammy) bring "The Rat Pack: Live at the Sands" to the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center from Tuesday through March 29.

"We re-create a night during the height of their popularity," he says. "It was a time when men were men and women were grateful and they were what every woman wanted and what every man wanted to be."

Triffitt is a British singer-actor who lives in Windsor, England, when he's not on the road. He has received a lot of critical acclaim for his interpretations of Sinatra's classics.

"Sinatra never sang the same song twice," he says. "Every time he went on stage, the lyrics were the same, but his interpretation would be influenced by how he felt that day or what he wanted to bring to the song."

On that night at the Sands, the trio had been filming "Ocean's Eleven." Sinatra's career was well-established, as was his tough-guy persona. Martin was known as the laid-back romantic crooner who was fond of booze. And Davis was breaking racial barriers as a multitalented singer-dancer-actor. In 1960, he could play on the Sands stage but blacks couldn't stay in the hotel.

"Frank wanted to create a world; Sammy wanted to fit into a world; and Dean could care less about the world," Hayes has said.

"What they said on stage would be politically incorrect today," says Triffitt. "There is a lot of drinking and smoking and ethnic jokes, but it fits with the times, and they meant no harm."

Triffitt says audiences give them standing ovations. And he has received praise from female audience members who were members of Sinatra's Bobby Sox Brigade (his teenage fan club in the 1940s) as well as from young people who are just discovering these legends and their music.

ON STAGE

The Rat Pack: Live at the Sands

WHAT: a re-creation of a Vegas performance by Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr.

WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday; 8 p.m. Friday; 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Saturday; 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. March 29

WHERE: Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, 1010 N. MacInnes Place, Tampa

ADMISSION: Ticket prices start at $43; purchase by calling (813) 229-7827 or 1-800-955-1045 or online at tbpac.org.

Reporter Walt Belcher can be reached at (813) 259-7654.

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