GRAHAM Bickley admits he’s got a challenge on his hands when he steps out on stage at the Bridgewater Hall next Sunday in the show Celebrate Sinatra.

For Graham will be singing 23 songs closely associated with Frank Sinatra, accompanied by the Manchester Concert Orchestra.

“Oh it’s a challenge all right,” said West End star Graham, “but from the outset I am not a Sinatra soundalike or lookalike. I never have been nor will I ever be.

“What you have to remember is as well as Sinatra’s brilliant performances, he had the best writers,the best orchestrators and the best arrangers and musicians and they deserve to be heard. Those arrangements deserve to be heard live and this show is an opportunity for an audience to hear them with with a big band.

“I suppose there will always be the odd audience member who says ‘he didn’t sound like Sinatra’ but that’s not the point of this show. Nothing beats hearing the band and the music played live.”

Amazingly Graham will only rehearse with the orchestra on the morning of the concert.

“It’s the nature of the beast,” he said, “you know what you are taking on.

“And actually that rehearsal is really for the band not me. I have to know it all and be ready so I’ve been working on it on my own for a few weeks.”

Graham starred a similar show at the Bridgewater Hall a couple of years ago,

“That was a Christmas themed show and at first it is scary. It’s a monster of a show but it’s a friendly monster and the audience were delightful last time and I hope we get a similar one this time.”

For many people, Graham will be forever associated with the TV comedy Bread - he played Joey Boswell in the BBC series for three years. but he admits the theatre and musicals are his real home.

“I’ve always been a variety boy,” he said. In the West End he has performed in shows including Miss Saigon, Sunset Boulevard and Ragtime.

The Manchester show will be his only appearance in the tour, as he will be standing in for the show’s regular vocalist Matt Ford.

“It’s scary but once you get on stage and the band kicks in you realise how lucky you are to be doing this job,” he said.

Celebrate Sinatra, Bridgewater Hall, Manchester, Sunday, March 5. Details from 0161 907 9000