Sinatra - 03/06/08 by
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Isn’t modern technology wonderful? Frank Sinatra has been dead for almost a decade but somehow he came alive at Manchester’s Palace theatre this week as he crooned his way through a repertoire of his finest hits.
Of course he’s not really back from the dead, but mainly the amazing work of Broadway director David Leveaux who uses a combination of multiple screens; archive footage of Ol’ Blue eyes himself, a company of dancers and a 16-piece big band. It’s as if Sinatra was himself there playing right in front of you, rather than the images we see on the screens.
You may be wondering how having Sinatra singing on what is effectively several screens will work in such a theatrical environment. However, it does, thanks largely to the clever work of Leveaux. The screens play an integral part in the story with it seamlessly fitting into the choreography of the dancers and the big band itself.
Indeed, it is fantastical to watch the way the company of dancers use the screens (which number from full sized ones, to small ones, to even having Sinatra beamed onto umbrellas and balloons) to convey the magic that was Sinatra through his words and his music.
The production takes on a very documentary feel by showing a chronology of Sinatra’s life. Most stones are not left unturned and we hear from Sinatra himself what he viewed about these events, from hitting the big time to his downturns in his career and off-screen relationships. All the while we are treated to some of Frank’s hits along the way – and there are many. Indeed, more than 30 great songs, with several classics (not all) making an appearance from Come Fly With Me to New York, New York.
Moreover, it is testament to Leveaux that he doesn’t feel the need to include just a greatest hits compilation of Sinatra’s well known songs, using the opportunity to showcase his early years through some of his lesser known hits. In doing so he is able to really show Sinatra’s genius and laid back style that won him so many fans.
However, there is a ‘but’. There’s always a ‘but’. So here it comes. But whilst it sparkled in the first half and all that glittered left most of us in the aisles wanting for more, the second half showed the production for what it was. At times I thought I was watching a documentary, at other times watching Sinatra swing as only he can swing. However, it was not one thing or the other - and therein lays the problem.
Using the documentary outlook is all well and good, but the problem with it is what to leave out, much of Francis’ film career was largely ignored and the whole treatment to the Rat Pack era felt slightly glossed over. Indeed, there was none of Frank’s penchant for comedy that were so much a characteristic of his concerts.
Nonetheless, only die hard fans will pick on such frivolities, and should not detract from an extravaganza of Sinatra’s hits belted out by the chairman of the board himself. Furthermore, there some wonderful highlights, including One More for the Road, That’s Life and a truly wonderful rendition of Send in the Clowns.
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