Sinatra The Musical

Theatre News was invited to the gala performance of Sinatra the Musical in aid of the Nordoff and Robbins music therapy charity. To find out more about the great work the charity does and to donate, please visit their site here.

”Sinatra the musical” is the latest in the jukebox musical trend, using the works of a famous artist as the basis of a musical. This approach has the advantage of starting from a catalogue of well known songs of proven quality; the disadvantage is that the story needs to be written to fit the songs rather than vice versa.

In general there are 2 approaches that can be taken to resolve this issue - either make something fantastical up around the songs, or use the songs as punctuation in a biography of the star in question.

Sinatra takes the latter route, telling the story of his early career and his rise and then fall from fame and the subsequent rise again as a series of vignettes interspersed between performances of his songs. In this case it works better than most, not least because the back catalogue is so good, and covers such a range of emotions. There is literally a Sinatra song for everything!

The show opens with a young Sinatra performing with the Benny Goodman Orchestra, and it’s a delight. The show is set with the band on the stage as if they were the house band in a bar or casino in the 40’s - and Joel Harper-Jackson in the star role crooning for all he’s worth, and he’s worth a lot. Clearly a lot of effort has been put into copying Sinatra’s phrasing and delivery; it’s good and well judged, an homage rather than a pastiche or a mockery.

The play itself is a bit limited; the formula is a fairly standard song, a little scene from Frank’s life that leads into the next song, rinse and repeat. So far, so musical theatre. It would be impossible to properly tell the story of a character as complex as Frank Sinatra in a 2 hour show where at least an hour is taken up by the songs themselves.

The acted scenes do produce some moments of delight. The scene with Sinatra bedhopping between Lana Turner, Marlene Dietrich and Judy Garland is a hoot, as is the tap dancing Gene Kelly, and the duet between the elder Mr and Mrs Sinatra to “You make me feel so young” is hilarious. Later scenes with Nat King Cole and Billie Holiday are also stand outs.

Where the show really stands out though is in the music and staging. The swing dancers are fantastic, and the cast and ensemble perform with style and with obvious delight; it’s a joyous thing when it’s in full swing. And with that music, you can’t go wrong. But what really made the night for me was the band.

Theatre bands are often a little bit dry; note perfect but functional. They can lack the swing of a real band. Not so in this case, this is a proper living and breathing big band, and they make the show special - more than the sum of its parts.

All in all Sinatra is an excellent evening out. Great songs, great cast, great band. Tonight's performance was a gala in aid of Nordoff and Robbins, with Rod Stewart in attendance, and the great man was out of his seat whooping and cheering. If that isn’t a good enough recommendation, then what is?