The Palace Theatre
Tuesday 1st December
4 and a half stars
It’s December 1 and Francis, Sammy and Deano are literally swinging into the Christmas spirit from the off. Christmas with the Rat Pack at the Palace Theatre is the ultimate guilty pleasure for anyone who loves some old-school Christmas tunes that can’t help but make you feel festive. Stephen Rashbrook (Sinatra), Mark Halliday (Martin) and Matthew Henry (Davis Jr) although obviously picked for their sound-alike qualities, rather than look-alike, were all excellent (though Rashbrook did look uncannily like the King of Swing himself.) All three had great chemistry on stage, Henry bringing Sam’s childish enthusiasm and energy and Halliday bringing Dean’s womanising mannerisms, with a topped-up whisky in hand.
Recreating the 1950s Sands Hotel in Vegas, the stage is adorned with the big tree and big band as well as the backing from three scantily clad Santas: the Burrelli Sisters (Robyn Currell, Nikki Stokes and Rachel Parrott). As well as the Christmas classics of ‘Baby It’s Cold Outside’, ‘Let It Snow Let It Snow’ and ‘White Christmas’, other great Rat Pack numbers were included such as ‘New York, New York’ and ‘I’ve Got You Under My Skin’. If you’re a sucker for such jazzy hits you cannot fault the performances, especially Sammy Davis Junior’s beautiful rendition of ‘Mr Bojangles’. Dean Martin got the audience swaying with his most popular numbers of ‘That’s Amore’ and, of course, ‘Sway’. “It’s Franks world, but we’re all livin’ in it”- banter between the trio was as expected; it was smooth, witty, racy but also rather corny at times. Glitz and glamour followed with a few dance numbers, intertwined by many Christmas medleys. They definitely gave the audience what they wanted, wrapping it up with Frank’s Big Band number ‘That’s Life’ which got much of the audience tapping there feet along happily.
On the whole it’s lovely to see these songs brought to life in such an enthusiastic and professional way. I urge you this Christmas to skip past the overplayed Mariah Carey on your playlist and get that warm, fuzzy, festive feeling while chilling out to some Christmas classics sung by the swinging cats that are The Rat Pack.
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