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BIOGRAPHY
When Michael B. Levin moved from New York to Los Angeles seven years
ago, he was looking to strike acting gold. After bopping around town
doing stand-up comedy and assorted gigs, he was goofing around at
Residuals in Studio City with a couple of different voices when a
producer said to him "boy you should try to do Frank Sinatra". So
Levin shot a short video as Frank Sinatra and two weeks later found
himself with a four month gig on a cruise ship.
More than just Frank though, Levin impersonates a number of different
singers. "I'm a buffet of entertainment" he says with a laugh.
Because, he says he has perfect pitch, he has the ability to switch
from Frank to Michael Bolton, Michael McDonald, Sinaid O'Connor, Diana
Ross, Sammy Davis Jr., and Barry Manilow as well as Jerry Seinfeld. "I
was doing a lot of parodies, "he explains, "but rather than the usual
parody guy who just doesn't sound like the people, I would sound like
them as well." Michael will add that talent to the Nickelodean cartoon
"Hey Arnold" as the character Dino Spumoni this season.
Though he's multi-talented, it's the Sinatra persona that has taken
Levin coast to coast, playing in front of corporate and casino
audiences alike. Levin works with arrangers to transpose the original
music from a thirty-eight piece orchestra to an eight or sixteen piece
band.
Though he's having a good time with the Sinatra act, his long term
goal is to perform original R&B music. Playing tribute to the Chairman
of the Board is a real challenge: "you gotta be right on the money
with those songs, because people know what they sound like. A lot of
people of all ages grew up with these songs. I had to get the clothes
and all that. It's nice easy to find this stuff, believe it or not.
You might notice there's a shortage of sharkskin out there. People
expect the look of a certain period so I'm constantly changing and
trying to refine."
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