The Rat Pack
September 23, 2008
Venue : Sunderland Empire
Date : September 22nd 2008
The Rat Pack takes us back to 1962 when Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Junior and Dean Martin were performing at the Sands night club in Las Vegas.
The show recreates a concert starting with Sinatra, with each of the leads having their turn in the spotlight. In the second half we witness the knock about comedy the Rat Pack actually got up to, which includes a lot of humour that was acceptable in 1962, but not today. This does not detract from the show, but at times does jar, when you are laughing at a comment made towards Sammy that quite frankly would get you in to a lot of trouble if you made it in today’s society.
Stephen Triffitt opened the show as Frank, having recreated Sinatra in America and the UK after winning his heat on Star in Your Eyes in May 200. Surprisingly seemed to take time settle in to the character and it was not until Ashley Campbell as Sammy, sang Mr Bojangles that the show came alive. Phil Barley then made the most of the comedy with his interpretation of Dean Martin.
The three backing singers and the orchestra were excellent and the cast certainly received a rapturous reception from the audience. But at times I was left expecting Matthew Kelly to emerge from the set and one of the performers to announce Matthew tonight I am going to be……..
However there were some great moments, such as when Sammy sang “What Kind Of Fool Am I?, Dean swinging through “Memories Are Made Of This” and Frank closing the show with “My Way”, but then oddly some things did not work, such as the show stopper New York, New York seemed to miss the mark and did not get the audience response it deserved.
This show has toured and played the West End with great success for several years (it even had a specially themed version for the Christmas period) and while obviously popular, I was never convinced I was watching anything else other than actors impersonate late great performers. Maybe the three large images hanging over the set of the actual performers just showed how different they were from the cast.
- John Dixon
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