To all who appreciate talent, good music, singers, love, romance and history, we have a story for you. On the whole, this story is based on real facts starting in 1915 when a baby was born and the doctor said, “Wow! What a sound” as the baby cried out. That baby was none other than Frank Sinatra.

This interpretation comes from the writing skills of the late Fred Travalena. Fred was a comic, impressionist, singer, actor, songwriter, and lyricist who grew up hearing the daily stories and music of Frank Sinatra. Fred’s father worked with Frank as singing waiters at The Rustic Cabin—a restaurant in New Jersey. When the time came for Frank to sing with bigger bands, Fred Travalena Sr. had to bow out of the group because he had a wife and children.  

Fred Travalena had many occasions to spend time with Frank and only knew him as a powerful speaker, smart, friendly, loving to all, respectful and ‘never’ spoke bad words in front of ladies.  Fred started doing an act during the Army days as a singer and an impressionist.  He then discovered he could do singing impressions of powerful celebrities. Eventually, Fred found that he could do a great impression of Frank. He put the impression in his Las Vegas act, and continued the impression until he was sixty-six years old. When Fred wrote And Then I Sing, he had high hopes to play the title role. 

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Frank’s mother Dolly was Frank’s biggest supporter. She always wanted him to pursue singing. You’ll learn that from the age of 10 when she told her son, “whenever anything goes wrong in your life… that’s when you sing my son. Always remember, AND THEN I SING.” 

Our title, And Then I Sing, was Fred’s way of putting his beautiful original songs into the script. You’ll learn how Frank got on radio stations and how he was chosen by band leaders Harry James and Tommy Dorsey to be their lead singer. You’ll learn how Frank deeply loved his first wife, Nancy, and their three beautiful children. However, Frank never stopped pursuing creative, career, and musical progress. The songwriters and lyricists he worked so closely with wrote songs for Frank that had personal meaning. It’s why his songs and lyrics always made sense and still do today. Frank helped people fall in love with enunciation, feeling, and beautifully arranged music. It was this same workaholic behavior that was, at times, Frank’s downfall. He missed births, holidays, and vacations. Work trips and other ladies found their way into Frank’s overzealous life. 

And Then I Sing is a two-act play with close to twenty original songs. We’ve produced the complete first act in our podcast musical. We hope to see And Then I Sing make its way to a Broadway Stage, and are interested in other mediums — film, tv, and podcast as well. As Fred's wife, I promised him on his last day that I would try to do just that. This is just the beginning. I hope you enjoy these wonderful actors and the toe-tapping songs of love for “The Greatest Singer”, who worked with big bands, and sang “That Good Ol Hollywood Song,” as well as “Everything I Need I Found In You.”  

Fred’s title song, “And Then I Sing” closes our first act. It’s a tear jerker! All for your Listening Pleasure.

— Lois Travalena