Music By The Mountain-The Bobby Darin Cabaret

A Musical Evening in Stone MountainPhoto byArt Station

Bobby Darin never really left us. While he died way too young, his music is solidly embedded in our cultural landscape. So talented as a song stylist that he prompted comparisons with Frank Sinatra. Versatile: Darin sang, composed, danced, played instruments, hosted prime time TV shows and starred in movies.

Stone Mountain’s Art Station brings Bobby Darin back through the magic of Cabaret, a setting where he excelled during his short life. I still have the vinyl LP, “Darin at the Copa,” released in 1960 and recorded live at the Copacabana Nightclub in New York City.

The album preserves American popular music for the ages. Darin flawlessly performed the songs of Cole Porter and Rogers and Hammerstein. His remarkable version of Ray Charles’ “I Got a Woman,” (recorded by Mr. Charles in Atlanta), is a tribute to Darin’s professional skill and cultural awareness.

The Cabaret is a perfect environment for revisiting Bobby Darin’s songs and stunning showmanship. As singer and dancer, he understood that to please an audience you must entertain them and the intimacy of performing live before a night club audience demanded perfection.

The big band sound propelling “Mack the Knife,” and “Artificial Flowers,” was delivered with the same depth and precision as the Rock and Roll standards, “Dream Lover” and “Splish Splash.” And, is there a more enduring standard in American popular music than Darin’s incomparable recording of “Beyond the Sea”?

Album Cover, Darin at the Copa.Photo byDown South Today

David Thomas and Patrick Hutchison assumed a mighty challenge in re-creating Bobby Darin’s music and persona. It’s easy to believe that Darin, who put his life into his musical performances, would be mighty pleased that a local audience is being entertained just the way it was done at The Copa so many years ago when Jack Kennedy was running for President.

The Bobby Darin Cabaret features Benny Higgins and Liza Jaine. Tickets: (770) 469-1105; www.artstation.org