Like the great performer whose life and career it celebrates, Sinatra is pure class. This remarkable musical, which delighted audiences two years ago at the London Palladium, visited Oxford on a four-day run last week. It will surely have brought huge enjoyment to existing fans of Old Blue Eyes and made converts of those who might not previously have heard his classic numbers performed at their best - as they certainly were here.
Satisfaction in the songs is guaranteed in Sinatra because it is Frank himself who is singing them. The wonders of modern technology permitted the separation of his voice from the orchestras backing him in archive footage covering a broad stretch of his musical career. Sensational new accompaniment is supplied on stage by a 15-piece orchestra - my, how they swing! - under musical supervisor Gareth Valentine.
The vocals having been enhanced on such trademark numbers as Fly Me to the Moon, New York, New York, Send in the Clowns and I've Got You Under My Skin, a similar process of improvement was performed on the visuals. The resulting crisp, recoloured images of the star are then projected during the performance on to huge moving screens that slide into position on the stage. Sometimes these are replaced by white tables, balloons and umbrellas carried by the ten-strong team of dancers whose well-choreographed routines maintain the impetus of the show.
The whole story of his life builds, as inevitably it must, towards the song indelibly associated with his name. It is good to think that ten years after his death (the anniversary is next month), he is still doing it His Way - even if that way is now subtly different.
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