‘ ‘ The Civic Light Opera theater is a small, intimate space Downtown. ‘ ‘ ‘ Its patrons… ‘ ‘ The Civic Light Opera theater is a small, intimate space Downtown. ‘ ‘ ‘ Its patrons roost on love seats clustered around small tables facing the stage. There, audiences can have a cocktail and take in the atmosphere of a club not unlike the joints Frank Sinatra favored.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘Sinatra always said that he was a saloon singer, that he was just a guy who stood around and entertained people,’ said David Grapes, the creator of a musical tribute to Sinatra playing at the CLO this week. ‘ ‘ ‘ As a city of immigrants, industry and hard work characterizes Pittsburgh’s collective value system. But song-and-dance holds equal merit here.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ When Frank Sinatra performed here, eight times in the course of his career, he carried himself with the same blue-collar pride and scrappiness on which Pittsburghers pride themselves.’ Pittsburgh was Sinatra’s kind of town. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘Frank Sinatra played it close to the chest,’ said John Fredo, the actor who plays the part of older Sinatra in Pittsburgh CLO Cabaret’s production of ‘My Way: A Musical Tribute to Frank Sinatra,’ which opens Wednesday. ‘ ‘ ‘ As a musical revue created by Grapes and Todd Olson, ‘My Way’ aims to get at the essence of the man through his music. ‘ ‘ ‘ That is the persona ‘My Way’ wants to revive through sampling his songs, old standards and little-known tunes interspersed with anecdotes about Sinatra’s life. ‘ ‘ ‘ The show has a nuclear cast of four ‘mdash; two women and two men. ‘ ‘ ‘ In structuring the show, Grapes wanted to use music to illustrate Sinatra’s tumultuous life, using songs to evoke a sudden ebb and flow of emotions. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘It was a life of violent ups and downs,’ said Grapes. ‘ ‘ ‘ Though ‘My Way’ searches for the core of Sinatra, it does not want to imitate him. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘We’re not trying to impersonate Sinatra because nobody can be Sinatra,’ said Grapes, laughing. ‘ ‘ ‘ Fredo explained, ‘I don’t want to be Sinatra when I’m on stage. I want to stay me and evoke Sinatra. ‘ ‘ ‘ And as an Italian-American, the idea of Sinatra is already attached with an epic quality, with glory. And that’s what we want people to feel.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ Over the course of a career that spanned nearly half a century, Sinatra recorded 1,400 songs. His work is ingrained in the American conscience ‘mdash; so much so that Starbucks created an exclusive compilation album that looped endlessly. ‘ ‘ ‘ His tone and regular-guy persona allowed people to connect their lives to something bigger than themselves. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘So when I’m singing and I look out over the audience and I see a couple reaching for each other’s hands? They’re somewhere else, 10 years ago, 20 years ago, 30 years ago reliving something together. That’s what I want ‘mdash; I want them to forget me and let the music take them away,’ said Fredo. ‘ ‘ ‘ From his days as a big-band singer and a teen idol to his life as a movie star and a prodigious recording artist, Sinatra dabbled in several genres of music.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘He had a thirst for new material, and because he was so big, all the music came to him first. He could sing anything and make something out of it,’ said Grapes. ‘ ‘ ‘ The Chairman wasn’t just a musical figure. He was also famous for his public antics. For a certain generation he epitomized cool. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘As the saying goes, women loved him and men wanted to be him,’ said Grapes. ‘And I am amazed at how many of my students at University of Northern Colorado know his music. Under ‘favorite music’ on their Facebook pages they write Rihanna, Britney Spears, Coldplay, Lil’ Wayne and then Frank Sinatra! It’s incredible.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ Fredo continued, ‘He appealed to all ages because he wanted to stay current. He became an icon, and once that happened, he never wanted to relinquish that status.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘Sinatra could put a song in the American conscience and it would never go away,’ said Grapes, leaning forward over his armchair. ‘Never.’