Sinatra: The Musical has swung into London's West End at the Aldwych Theatre, bringing Ol' Blue Eyes back to the stage with a swaggering turn from Joel Harper-Jackson and plenty of big band energy. However, while the production brims with hits and style, the script by Joe DiPietro never quite gets under the skin of the legendary singer.
From Birmingham to the West End
First staged in Birmingham three years ago and extensively workshopped since, this bio-musical focuses on Sinatra's nadir—the messy years in the late 1940s and early 1950s when it seemed his extraordinary talent might come to a wasteful end. The show begins at the Paramount theatre, where the heart-throb has everything going for him: screaming fans, a devoted spaghetti-cooking spouse, and a movie about sailors with Gene Kelly that will help quash accusations of draft-dodging.
Joel Harper-Jackson leads the cast, marrying smooth vocal power to Sinatra's signature swagger—the head wobble, the corner-of-the-mouth smirk. His weakness for women is played as a comically charming character quirk, with a bed-hopping rendition of "Come Fly With Me" involving Lana Turner, Judy Garland, and Marlene Dietrich.
A Legendary Affair Lacks Fire
When Sinatra meets Ava Gardner in Palm Springs, she soon has him "under her skin," and it's the beginning of the end for his marriage to Nancy (Phoebe Panaretos). Ana Villafañe captures Gardner's bombshell power, and there's no lack of passion in the musical numbers. Yet DiPietro's book never conjures the true tumult of this legendary affair. This was a couple whose first date allegedly ended in drunken gunplay, but the febrile nature of their relationship is here limited to a ceremonious smashing of whisky glasses in a grate.
Sinatra's producer daughter Tina, who helped shape the story, wanted her father to be better understood. But a reluctance to embrace too much darkness lends a sense that things just happen to our hero. This is at odds with the comeback narrative and the stubbornness we're told he inherited from his Italian mother—Jenna Russell, who can steal a scene with just a single line delivered on a telephone.
Progressive Values and Set Design
We do get some colouring in on Sinatra's progressive values and the sense of anti-immigrant discrimination that drove him, but the script often feels less three-dimensional than the video-assisted set design. Happily, Kathleen Marshall's production, complete with a fine ensemble and some joyful choreography, doesn't stint on the big hits—on opening night you could literally hear the audience swoon.
Sinatra: The Musical is at the Aldwych Theatre, London, until 10 April.
