By CAMERON LUCADOU-WELLS
One man backed by a 17-piece big band will bring to life the music of a late star at Drum Theatre this month.
Rod Gordon writes, stars and produces Bobby Darin Dream Lover – a musical tribute to Bobby Darin’s prolific career. It’s more cabaret than a scripted narrative, a roll call of 20 songs covering Darin’s varied career.
Gordon, of Richmond, wrote the show while he was recovering from a broken leg. He admires the crooners Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis jnr but Darin is something of an unsung hero.
“I’ve always been passionate about the guy,” Gordon said. “It’s such a short, diverse career that no one has really paid tribute to.”
Darin was full of “get up and go” with “the drive of a CEO”, Gordon said. Struck down by rheumatic fever while young, Darin refused to bow to a chronic heart illness that was predicted to kill him in his teens.
He straddled the rock, swing and folk movements in the 1950s and ’60s, collecting two Grammy Awards and an Oscar nomination while writing 156 songs.
Darin performed relentlessly, even after a heart transplant. He died in December 1973 aged 37.
“I think he couldn’t rest because of his fear that he would just be here for a short time,” Gordon said.
To a lesser extent, Gordon is a workaholic himself, cramming the shows between his regular successful four-piece swing band Shuffle Club’s gigs.
His two-show stop at Dandenong begins the day after he arrives back from the Japan Jazz Festival.
Bobby Darin Dream Lover is at Drum Theatre, Dandenong, on July 18 and 19 at 10.30am. Tickets: $20 adults and $13.50 concession. Bookings: 9771 6666.
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