Do you like old school Hollywood rat packers, making jokes about cigarettes and banging out the likes of Lady Is A Tramp and It Was A Very Good Year? If yes, then this show is pure bliss. If no, run away as fast as you can.
Richard Shelton floats around the stage as Sinatra, channeling the crooner with everything he’s got. The jokes are straight out of show business circa 1960. However, without the voice the show is just a carciture in a nice, grand, venue. It helps that Richard‘s voice is scarily reminiscent of Sinatra and the mannerisms are spot on.
The show brings out two West End stars to support Richard, Caroline O‘Connor and Louise Dearman, along with the famed Syd Lawrence Orchestra and Saxaphonist Renatto D‘Aiello. Caroline threatened to steal the show in some places, but the artists form a fantastic group throughout the show.
Cadogan Hall is the perfect place for the event. Richard‘s repeated references to the audience being “with me in New York” feel natural in the venue. Of course there is an element of tongue in cheek underwriting the performance. Richard feigns confusion of how Louise could have played two characters in the same play and cheerfully introduces his “best friend Jack Daniels”.
If the Rat Pack is your cup of bourbon, seeing Shelton perform as Sinatra is an absolute must. If not, this show will strike you as old fashioned, boring and chauvunistic. So join Mack The Knife and Ol Blue Eyes in New York to hear him do it his way! 4/5
Review written by Ingimar Sverrisson.
SINATRA: The Main Event was on at the Cadogan Hall on Friday 10th October. For more information on Richard Shelton, visit here…
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