An audience jam-packed with friends and co-workers came out to cheer D. Scott Eads’ tribute to Bing Crosby entitled Legacy: In The Key Of Bing on Sunday at Sterling’s Upstairs At The Federal.

Interspersed with biographical tidbits, Eads’ twenty-three-song salute had the aspiring cabaret performer taking the audience on a sentimental journey from  the 1930s’ “Sweet Georgia Brown,” “Pennies From Heaven,” and “You Must Have Been A Beautiful Baby” to all-time Crosby classics “White Christmas” and “Blue Skies.”

The suave, handsome, occasionally bespectacled Eads’ savviest move was to invite L.A. stage stars Laura Dickinson and Will Collyer to add their own tuneful tributes to frequent Crosby collaborators Rosemary Clooney (Dickinson’s “Tenderly”) and Frank Sinatra (Collyer’s “I’ve Got The World On A String” and a delightful Eads-Collyer “Me And My Shadow duet), the threesome joining voices for the evening’s grand finale before Eads’ nostalgic “I’ll Be Seeing You” got friends and colleagues on their feet.

Providing bang-up backup throughout were musical director Rich Eames on piano, Dori Amarilio on guitar, Gary Wicks on bass, and Greg Sadler on drums, once again demonstrating that Michael Sterling’s Upstairs At The Federal is the NoHo hot spot for drinks, dining, and cabaret.

Sterlings Upstairs At The Federal, 5303 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood.
http://nh.thefederalbar.com/

–Steven Stanley
September 30, 2018