Director David Grapes grew up listening to the Beatles, but has always had a fascination with the music of Frank Sinatra. So it’s not surprising that he put together a musical revue of Sinatra hits called My Way, which opens Friday at Matunuck’s Theatre By The Sea. The show opened in previews Wednesday night.

Grapes, head of the theater department at the University of Northern Colorado, said he got the idea for My Way while watching a CNN retrospective on the famed crooner the day he died. Grapes saw clips of routines he hadn’t seen before and said he was struck by how theatrical they were.

It turns out he was working at a small theater in New York state at the time and looking for a musical. So he and a student who would become his partner, Todd Olson, put together a book musical using Sinatra songs, which he said was “moderately” successful.

But when there was an opportunity to take the show to Nashville for the summer of 2000, Grapes decided to drop the story line, to drop the dialogue and just go with the songs, in a revue format that’s a little like the classic Ain’t Misbehavin’. The revised show features 57 songs, some of which are lumped into medleys, with signature tunes such as “My Way,” “That’s Life” and “Fly Me to the Moon” heard in their entirety.

Dropping the plot meant more time for the music, giving the audience songs they expect to hear and in some cases music they didn’t know.

“The man recorded 1,400 songs,” said Grapes, who’s directing the Matunuck run, “and there are some people want to hear.”

The show has had a life of its own since 2000. To date it has logged somewhere around 400 productions in every state but Utah, along with Canada, Ireland and Australia.

Grapes said that just like Elvis, Sinatra seems to be bigger than ever now that he is no longer with us. He said his theater students in Colorado have Sinatra songs on their iPods.

“I developed an enormous appreciation for the professionalism and artistry Sinatra brought to the music,” said Grapes. “He knew what sounded good and how to show off his talent. He was a consummate singer.”

The two-hour show features four singers, two male and two female voices that represent different sides of Sinatra.

Using women, of course, means the show never set out to impersonate Ol’ Blue Eyes, but to just give audiences a sense of the music he sang and to some extent how he sang it.

“We wanted to do a show based on actors, not impersonators,” said Grapes the other day after rehearsal.

Finding a skilled impersonator each time the show was mounted would be difficult, he said, and besides, what singer wants the unenviable task of filling the shoes for the Chairman of the Board.

Grapes said the show offers a “musical journey that has its own arc.” The songs tend to get more sophisticated as the show evolves, he said. And they tend to be grouped according to periods and style. There is a Rat Pack grouping, for example, sung by John Fredo, who was in the original cast of My Way and is the closest in voice to Sinatra, a man with “animal magnetism,” said Grapes.

“I think people will enjoy Johnny, even though he never does an imitation,” he said.

Then there is a singer with a slightly higher voice, who represents the young Sinatra during his big band days with Tommy Dorsey and swing era with Nelson Riddle.

The two female singers represent the kinds of women Sinatra was attracted to. One is the sultry, sensual type like Ava Gardner, and the other is the softer, more feminine persona like Mia Farrow or Juliet Prowse.

There is also some dance in the show, for while Sinatra was no Fred Astaire, he knew his way around the dance floor from films like Guys and Dolls.

Fredo, a gifted tap dancer, lets loose at one point. Grapes said that while Sinatra was not a tapper, the number fits with the period the show covers.

“I think the audience will come away with a sense that the man knew how to pick great music.”

My Way: A Musical Tribute to Frank Sinatra is the first of four offerings this summer at Theatre By The Sea, the 76-year-old historic barn theater’s second full season since it was purchased in 2007 by Bill Hanney, the Massachusetts man who made his money in movie theaters.

Producing artistic director Amiee Turner said the theater has decided to mount a season of premieres. She said My Way was done locally as a one-night stand, but never enjoyed a full-blown production.

Other shows this season are Crazy For You, Peter Pan and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.

The staff found the car from Crazy For You in storage, but learned that while the previous owners of the theater once toured the show, it never played the barn. Nor has Peter Pan ever been done in Matunuck because of concerns over flying on stage. Improvements in equipment now make that less worrisome.

As far as ticket sales go, Turner said the theater is concerned about the downturn in the economy, but that subscription renewals have been “very strong.”

“We have delayed the marketing a little bit this year, so we haven’t quite seen the pop yet, but the build is happening. We are concerned but optimistic.”

In a sense the season is modeled after last year’s, which also began with a musical revue, Ain’t Misbehavin’. Because shows such as this have limited sets and small casts, they are cheaper to produce, at a time when the summer season is not quite in full swing and houses tend to be smaller.

At this point, the staff is still arriving in waves, said Turner.

And just like last year, the season will end with a more or less contemporary show, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.

“We felt we could have a lot of fun with it,” said Turner.

My Way: A Musical Tribute to Frank Sinatra runs through June 14 at Theatre By The Sea, 364 Cards Pond Rd., Matunuck. Tickets are $35 for Thursday’s preview and $39-$49 for the remaining shows. Call (401) 782-8587.

cgray@projo.com