CHRISTMAS WITH THE RAT PACK: BRIAN DUPREY BRINGS SINATRA TO RICHARDSON

by Shanon Weaver

Brian Duprey didn’t grow up in a show-business household. He was just a kid from Woonsocket, Rhode Island, an old mill town better known for CVS headquarters than crooners. His dad was an engineer, his mom sang at church, and music was more background than career plan.

The moment that set him on his path didn’t happen under stage lights. It happened in his childhood living room when his mother happened to overhear him singing.

"My voice dropped into this baritone, and I was belting out ‘New York, New York,’" Brian remembers. "My mother ran in and said, ‘Oh my God, you sound just like Sinatra.’"

College at Fairfield University in Connecticut gave Brian a stage in the jazz ensemble and orchestra. He idolized Harry Connick Jr. and Sinatra, studying their phrasing and presence. But practicality won out on paper. He graduated with a degree in sales and marketing and started working in food and pharmaceuticals.

Even then, the music kept creeping in. Clients were more curious about the demo CD he was recording than whatever he was selling. Brian began to suspect he was in the wrong business.

That suspicion grew into weekly train rides into Manhattan, where he studied with jazz vocalist Carol Fette. Her apartment was, fittingly, a shrine to Sinatra. With her, he learned the details that make the difference: how to breathe, where to hold a note, when to let go. He cut a three-song demo of Ol’ Blue Eyes’ standards (“Luck Be a Lady,” “Summer Wind,” and “The Best Is Yet to Come”) and quietly started dreaming bigger.

In 2002, he took the leap. He quit his job, moved to Las Vegas, and within a month landed his first paid singing gig in the lounge at Caesars Palace—Frank’s old room.

"I had never been paid to sing before,” Brian says. “It was just amazing. And to be playing the room Frank used to play…wow."

Vegas embraced him. He joined a scripted Rat Pack tribute show that ran nightly for years, giving him the chance to refine not just his vocals, but also his timing, stage presence, and swing-era swagger. He also figured out how he wanted to define his work.

"I don’t really like the word impersonator,” Brian says. “I consider myself an actor portraying Frank."

These days, Brian produces his own Rat Pack show, touring performing arts centers, casinos, and private events around the country. His cast is spread across the map—Dean Martin in Madison, Wisconsin; Sammy Davis, Jr. in Las Vegas—and his wife Jamie portrays Marilyn Monroe.

The couple now calls North Texas home, close to Jamie’s family in McKinney and perfectly situated for a life on the road. Dallas has become Brian’s base of operations, and it’s where this December’s big show is set to sparkle.

Christmas with the Rat Pack returns to the Eisemann Center in Richardson on December 2, 2025, after last year’s midweek performance nearly sold out. Clearly, crooners and Christmas make a winning combination.

This holiday edition isn’t just seasonal fluff. It’s a full night of Rat Pack standards—“Come Fly With Me,” “That’s Amore,” “Ain’t That a Kick in the Head,” “New York, New York”—woven with Christmas favorites that feel tailor-made for velvet voices and brass sections.

"You can hear all the regular hits the Rat Pack had, as well as the Christmas music…it’s like you’re getting a lot more bang for your buck," Brian says.

For the record, Brian prefers Sammy’s version of “Jingle Bells” to Frank’s, but we’ll keep that under wraps.

The show plays more like a concert than a revue, with a big band, sharp comedy, and plenty of improvisation…including Marilyn interacting with the audience.

That blend—songs you know by heart, seasoned with spontaneity—is what makes Brian’s Rat Pack tribute feel alive instead of nostalgic. He isn’t copying Sinatra; he’s channeling him. Every phrase is measured, but every night is its own.

So if you’re looking for a holiday outing with a little glamour, a little swing, and a lot of heart, mark your calendar. Brian Duprey will bring Frank, Dean, Sammy, and Marilyn to Richardson for one glittering night—and all you have to do is show up ready to celebrate.