While most musically inclined people his age are far more interested in rap, country or pop, Tomasello - who grew up in his grandparents' home at 12th and Porter in South Philly and attended the Philadelphia Performing Arts Charter School - pretty much only has eyes (or, more to the point, ears) for the music of the Great American Songbook as rendered by his hero, Francis Albert Sinatra. So why would a modern teen be so compelled by the 14-years-gone crooner that his wardrobe accessories and jewelry (an orange pocket hankie, a pinkie ring engraved with his family name) are based on those of his hero's?
"I didn't find Sinatra, Sinatra found me," insisted Tomasello as he sat in his dressing room - the same one Ol' Blue Eyes once used - after a recent performance.
Truth be told, Tomasello, whose rail-thin build definitely recalls Sinatra's when the latter was the heartthrob of millions of 1940s bobby-soxers, simply couldn't hide from the sounds of Sinatra. "It's just because I grew up with him," he said of his intense interest in Sinatra. "He's like a family member. It was drilled into my head."
It wasn't that long ago Tomasello considered a career as, of all things, a funeral director. But once Stephen Garbesi, his best pal since third grade and the show's technical director (he appears as both Tomasello's DJ and onstage foil) heard him sing Sinatra a couple of years ago, the die was cast.
Tomasello is no stranger to Resorts. Casino co-owner/CEO Dennis Gomes was so impressed with Tomasello when he first heard him sing last summer that he invited him to be a regular attraction at the casino's Whiskey Bar. "When I first discovered Brandon singing, I was blown away by his talent and knew he was destined to be a star," said Gomes.
