I had gone there to see the films and on entering, Sinatra's name on the outdoor marquis meant little to me...some New York City dude was going to sing.
I was lucky to find a seat front row center, probably because the usher thought I was part of the band of teeny-bopper girls all sitting, like me, front row center....all of whom had received free tickets to sit in those seats as a pre-positioned claque.
He appeared on stage, not a tall guy, so remarkably skinny that he looked like the metal floor mike he clutched, bow tie, navy suit, bony features....and a wonderful voice.
The girls around me did their thing (which was to screech, cheer, cry, jump up and down and throw things like candy, hankies and fake flowers at him) and, therefore, I actually had TWO shows to watch, LOL.
These orgiastic teeny-bopper demonstrations were key at the beginning to move his career ever upward and onward....and the ploy, repeated all over the country, worked like a charm, as many of us remember.
It is certainly a nice memory to recall seeing him before he became "The Voice" and a sensational star.....and every once in a while I enjoy bringing up his melodic voice on YouTube, watching him sing the good old songs we grew up with.....and still love to hear.
Leni
To all on the is Sinatra a tough guy debate. If he was so tough why was he crying like a little girl in Vito Corleone's office and gettin' slapped up like that? Huh???
Nice Time Machine trip.
Great story!
Somewhat similar to your experience, four of us were in Vegas, and bought tickets to Jay Leno show in one of the hotels, I can’t recall the name, but it was a pretty big venue. This was 1988, and Jay was not yet a star on NBC Tonight show, a pretty much unknown comedian then, whom we recalled seeing as a guest comedian on some TV shows.
What I do remember from that show is, Jay Leno told us jokes for 2 hours, without a single break, and without a single word of profanity in his entire show. He was great!
You from chicago?