Sinatra: The Man & His Music is timed to coincide with Frank Sinatra’s centenary and, celebrating possibly the most iconic singer of the 20th century, takes place at the London Palladium where he made his UK début on the same stage an epic 65 years ago. Ol’ Blue Eyes is back…
Directed by David Gilmore, if you were expecting this to be another grim tribute musical with some average leading man playing him you’re mistaken. Instead Richard John conducts a 24 piece orchestra on a raised platform and a quality troupe of dancers support Frank himself who is suspended on a vast projection screen on high, offering an amusing take on the ‘live on stage’ billing and almost convincing the audience by the end of the evening that they’ve been privileged enough to see The Voice, back from the dead.
Described as a ‘multi-media experience’ due to the use of performance footage spanning Frank’s career, the show’s reliance on this has understandably prompted some criticism, however, for my part I would far rather spend two hours watching and listening to the real Frank than some half-baked impersonator. We’re all fully aware that we’re watching cleverly edited clips, but that doesn’t stop the show being hugely enjoyable, and it’s testament to Sinatra’s enduring power as a performer that it’s nigh on impossible to take your eyes off the screen despite well choreographed dance routines. In fact, they’re almost a distraction.
Along with playing some of his biggest hits, from ‘Fly Me To The Moon’ to ‘The Lady Is A Tramp’, the show chronicles Frank’s life and loves; from his difficult birth in New Jersey in 1915 to his early breaks and countless romances with stars like Ava Gardner and Mia Farrow. Images of Frank with his children are surprisingly emotional, as are the sound bites of him paying tribute to his friend JFK following his assassination.
As you’d expect when you hear that the production has the support of the Sinatra family, it does portray him as some kind of saint, or at least glosses over the shady parts of his personal life, but most of us know better than to fall for the candy-coated version and just admire this astonishing body of work regardless. When his 75-year-old daughter Nancy came on stage following the finale to give a seemingly heart-felt thanks to the production team, I couldn’t help being struck by the fact that this was as near to Frank as I was ever likely to get.
Sinatra: The Man & His Music at the London Palladium until 10th October 2015. The performance is 2 hours and 15 minutes including an interval. For more information and tickets visit the website.
