DEBONAIR hellraisers,
lovable rogues, charming chancers: Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Sammy Davis Jr, as the Rat Pack, were all that and more.
Brought to life once again by Louis Hoover, Alex Bourne, and George Long respectively, this new production, The Rat Pack Live from Las Vegas, endeavours to encapsulate the dancehall/nightclub era of the 1940s and 1950s.
With its superb big band (well, reasonably-sized band), spotlight glitz, and dancing girls, even though it's not scared subtly to cross over into more modern times, it appears to have captured that magical time in a nutshell.
With a bottle of Jack Daniel's on the piano a crucial participant in the performance,
the tribute pack, who hail
from different parts of England, do well to portray their heroes' personae.
Sinatra was the undeniable star of the original show, and Hoover's powerhouse singing is a fitting homage to Ol' Blue Eyes.
Bourne pours himself into the role of the oft-sozzled Martin with a pinch of salt and a squeeze of lime, and also gets the best wisecracks - ''you're not drunk if you can lie on the floor without holding on''.
And, like Davis Jr, Long dances as well as sings. Kate Burrell, Bonita Delaney, and Melodie Jones play the fabulous Burrelly Sisters.
Songwise there is a feast
of classics. Bourne's That's Amore, Volare, and When You're Drinking were excellent, while Long's rendition of What Kind Of Fool Am I? was simply stupendous. Hoover's My Kind of Town and Wee Small Hours were surpassed only by My Way, Swingin' Sister, and a fantastic finale of Memories are Made of This.
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