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Post by mrbarnaby on Sept 30, 2023 9:35:24 GMT
I was on the line about seeing this- but nothing here has made me want to get on a train to Birmingham and see it.
Interested to see what reviews say- but it doesn’t seem to be west end bound judging by these reactions (and on Twitter)
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Post by couldileaveyou on Sept 30, 2023 9:59:20 GMT
Also a very random scene when a soldier walks past as he comes out of club and frank gives him his coat 🧥 to keep warm I expect but just felt a bit odd Does he also feed the whole audience with five loaves and two fishes? |
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Post by robertb213 on Sept 30, 2023 19:40:18 GMT
It's worth seeing for Matt and Ana if nothing else, they're brilliant and really elevate it. And the orchestra sound fabulous.
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Post by drowseychap on Oct 2, 2023 0:56:58 GMT
Am revisiting it this week so will see if any changes
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Post by drowseychap on Oct 3, 2023 0:47:47 GMT
Saw it again tonight …. Better audience reaction standing ovation about 3/4 full Didn’t notice anything particularly different tonight but it did appear to flow better and be a little tighter … would still benefit from about 15 minutes cut out of it ….a couple of short scenes just feel odd esp with the soldiers And wish each scene with a star in it wouldn’t start with. Gene Kelly ……. Or a woman walks on and it’s “ well if it isn’t Lana turner “ hello Ava gardener how are you “ etc it’s literally every new character that appears on stage Frank name check them obv so audience know who they are but must be a clever way ? Took my 2 friends tonight not Avid theatre goers they loved it both gave 5/5 and said straight after that was fantastic loved every second So what do I know  Lol 😝 |
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Post by theatrenerd on Oct 3, 2023 12:26:18 GMT
I agree with most of the comments and reviews above I enjoyed the evening it was very pleasant I found out things about Sinatra I never knew …it bobbed along nicely but never really flew to the heights it could .. it wasn’t quite what’s new pussycat which I saw 6 times and every performance got full standing ovation . First half is very long and I felt all of the story could have been covered on 15 mins … like the start of kinky boots did … every time a big song came on it was cut before it got going considering his back catalogue lots of them I’d never heard of …. The second half started off better some great comedy from the parents … nice addition of Judys come rain /shine … I finally thought wow this is going to be a big moment ❤️then it petered out before the money notes There was at least 2 points in the show where it could have been that show stop moment but they cut the songs or Petter them out for some dialogue to say how sad frank is etc Biggest disappointment was no My way I mean ok it may have come later in his career but New York was too but Is put in as a finale well part of it …. After 2 hours of Sinatra telling us how he lived his life his way ….. the audience were gagging for a big finale … tell us Frank …. ! After all this I did it my way …. Then there would have been a standing ovation 👏 🎶 As it was just over half full tonight about 15 people standing but good applause overall I did love the overall design. And set lighting band were very tight costumes fabulous and a very strong cast you could see the money on the stage It the first time I’ve seen them remove 2 or 3 front rows too and square off the stage definitely looks like they are hoping for a broadway transfer It has the bones of being a really good 4star show. But really needs a few changes and a couple of big highs … as they tell it at the moment it seems his early life was all lows and drudgery and yes it may well have been. But we need some more light or some high drama and dramatic moments Really hope they continue to tweak and get audience feedback Matt Doyle has shared this article on IG which might explain why “My Way” isn’t included in the musical; www.gq.com/story/my-way-is-the-worst |
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Post by Wilf on Oct 3, 2023 16:41:21 GMT
I saw this last Tuesday, cast, band and costumes all excellent. I didn’t connect with the story at all despite loving the songs that are in it. I believe it is press night tonight so I’ll be very interested to read the reviews. Not a patch on What’s new Pussycat.
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Post by nash16 on Oct 4, 2023 12:53:32 GMT
Any idea when the reviews embargo is for this? Realise they had their Press Night the same evening as Old Friends.
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Post by showgirl on Oct 4, 2023 14:32:59 GMT
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Post by nash16 on Oct 4, 2023 15:05:31 GMT
Sorry, I meant from the National papers. The only reviews I’ve seen have been local/blogger ones. They could be keeping the papers away though in case it jeopardises a London run based on the posters above? |
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Post by mrbarnaby on Oct 4, 2023 22:37:36 GMT
I don’t have any interest in what in the local papers say , they’d like any old rubbish.
Any national newspapers reviewing this?
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Post by nash16 on Oct 5, 2023 0:33:46 GMT
Looks like they’re, cleverly, keeping them away. I think National reviews would severely scupper the London run. I don’t have any interest in what in the local papers say , they’d like any old rubbish. Any national newspapers reviewing this? |
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Post by drowseychap on Oct 5, 2023 0:40:22 GMT
I’d heard it was hoping to go straight to Broadway. …. But then if the Imo far superior Whats new pussycat couldn’t get a London transfer ?? Despite full standing ovations every night ….. who knows Tina Sinatra has been in both times I’ve gone back of stalls on laptop taking notes 📝 don’t get me wrong it’s an enjoyable show very expensive looking show too … just didn’t grab me
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Post by mkb on Oct 5, 2023 2:26:13 GMT
Sure, this is completely undemanding theatre, but sometimes that's what you're in the mood for, and tonight I was.
Just to sit back and wallow, taking in classics from the American Songbook, is divine. Conductor Mark Aspinall has an orchestra of sixteen, so this really is Big Band, and they sound fantastic.
Sinatra's rise to fame, mob connections and womanising are dealt with in a sanitised and a largely non-judgemental manner, which is par for the course with nearly all these true-life celebrity musicals, especially when the family are involved. That said, the tale told is engaging and zips along nicely, and the supporting cast acquit themselves well.
Matt Doyle as Frank is worth the admission price alone, but Phoebe Panaretos and Ana Villafañe as the first two wives provide excellent vocal competition, as does Ryesha Higgs in a delightful cameo as Billie Holiday (but oddly credited only as part of the Ensemble).
Staging (with slick and efficient scene changes) and choreography are first rate. Costumes, sound and lighting are effective.
For a show running at two and three-quarter hours, the time fair flew, and was warmly received with a generous ovation.
Four stars.
Act 1: 19:32-20:49
Act 2: 21:12-22:13
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Post by showgirl on Oct 5, 2023 3:01:36 GMT
Sorry, I meant from the National papers. The only reviews I’ve seen have been local/blogger ones. They could be keeping the papers away though in case it jeopardises a London run based on the posters above? Sorry, I didn't realise you meant papers only & national ones at that, but the only review I did mention is from a national site; I certainly found others from local papers/blogs but discounted those as they tend to be more positive &/or less impartial. Anyway, as I've said above, it has sold so well already that the current run will surely be accounted a success, whatever its future fate. |
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Post by mrbarnaby on Oct 5, 2023 8:07:44 GMT
Looks like they’re, cleverly, keeping them away. I think National reviews would severely scupper the London run. I don’t have any interest in what in the local papers say , they’d like any old rubbish. Any national newspapers reviewing this? But then local paper review won’t give it the boost to transfer- they need national critics to see it |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 5, 2023 20:59:34 GMT
All the ensemble are listed on the website with the paricular characters they play but cast list/programme just lists them as ensemble. Strange when a lot a playing legendary figures in their own right such as Bille,Marlene Dietrich and Sammy Davis Jnr to name but 3.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 8, 2023 1:40:51 GMT
Finally got to see this on Saturday night. Got a reasonably priced front side ticket for £40. I'm no Sinatra expert but I thought I knew his career fairly well from him being a big band singer, going solo and into films then the Rat Pack and becoming a Vegas legend. I hadn't realised that he had a slump period at the end of the 1940's and was effectively living off his 2nd wife.
The mob links were briefly mentioned, maybe we would have heard more if it had gone up to the Vegas era. A lot of legendary names were shown in passing but apart from Ava Gardner none were really developed. Matt Doyle is amazing in the lead and whilst not a Sinatra lookalike has his manner and voice perfectly.
Ana Villafane has the seductiveness of Ava Gardner to a tee and Phoebe Panaretos as the long suffering first wife Nancy both provided excellent support. I also enjoyed Dawn Buckland as his straight talking mother and Vincent Riotta as the father who tended to agree with the mother just to have an easy life.
The show wasn't perfect but a lot better than I thought it might be. Probably about 85% full I'd guess. Could it transfer to the West End I'd not say so with much confidence. But it could be a good touring show around the major cities and if it built momentum could then go into London at least for a limited run.
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Post by Being Alive on Oct 14, 2023 20:13:33 GMT
Caught the matinee today, and...quite indifferent to it actually.
The issue ultimately is it's a really, really poor book, with virtually no depth at all (the blessing of the Sinatra family and his daughter's pre recorded voice at the beginning won't have helped as they'd never have permitted anything that painted him to be another other than...what's shown in this)
Matt Doyle is very good, but cannot be excellent because the book is just...so bad.
Same issue for Anna Villafane - they just have nothing to act with.
I actually found Phoebe Panaretos quite weak, but that's maybe a personal thing - she came alive towards the end of act 1 though.
If you'd asked me to guess who'd directed and choreographed, I wouldn't in a month of Sunday's guessed Kathleen Marshall - not an ounce of her vibrancy or verve is present in this.
Like, it's fine fodder, Matt sings very well, but there's not an ounce of depth here when it could be quite a gritty show, but the book just doesn't allow it.
Much more Drifters Girl than Beautiful for me (and that's not a compliment)
Just 3 stars - but this would be laughed out of the West End (and especially Broadway - I dread to think the savagery Ben Brantley would have written about this)
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Post by Steve on Oct 14, 2023 22:59:11 GMT
I really enjoyed this, but I agree with much of what's been said above: great singing and slick staging with an absence of feeling and drama at the centre. Around the centre, there's some affecting moments, principally everything Ana Villafane's Ava Gardner does, as well as a lovely moment from Vincent Riotta as Sinatra's dear old Dad. Some spoilers follow. . . This isn't a total hagiography, in that it does hint at Sinatra's flaws (faithlessness, neglecting his family, associating with the mafia), but it refuses to make actual drama out of those things, preferring to move along sharply. Take the mafia bit, where Tommy Dorsey, who did a lot to make Sinatra's career take off, gets bullied out of his cut of Frank's earnings: we see it happen, but nothing to do with Sinatra's involvement, either before or after. The moment that Coppola showed in "The Godfather," where the Sinatra-esque character begs for a favour is not shown, nor is any guilty reaction to having the guy who helped build his career extorted. I mean, we got a fantastic "My Way," at the end of this show, as a singalong led by Matt Doyle, and that was so much fun, but damn, how much more poignant and dramatic would it have been if it was a haunted confession of rolling over his old friend? What if it was a confession of rolling over the mother of his children and his children as well? Cos we do see a couple of fantastic scenes that pertain to him cheating on his wives, but mostly in Sinatra's absence. For example, it is a strong scene and song where Phoebe Panaretos's Nancy realises that her marriage is not for better but for worse, singing "Come Rain or Come Shine," but Doyle's Sinatra isn't present to take the brunt of it, so we lose the chance for character growth. In fact, we almost never see Sinatra personally suffer, except when his career is threatened, and he has his most powerful song, "That's Life," at the end of the first half. But even then, when he picks up a gun as if he's contemplating suicide, it feels unearned and out of the blue, as he's been cheesily charming everyone with with a permagrin the entire time up until then. It's as if picking up the gun tells us he's suicidal, rather than we know he's suicidal and we're terrified he'll pick up the gun. Further, if he felt as bad about the mafia thing and/or the betrayal of his wife and children as he feels about not being able to greenlight a movie, which is a little self-absorbed, we might feel more for the character. Like BeingAlive said above, these are book problems. There are no such book problems pertaining to Ana Villafane's Ava Gardner. She is introduced singing about what a fool she is to love him, which is just so smart, as it shows she has a self-critical and tragically poignant internal life right from the get-go. In every scene, she is given a subtext that wins us over, so even at her very worst moment, when she aborts his kid without telling him first, the subtext is the tragedy of a woman who wants to behave like a man being forced to behave like a woman. And goodness, Ana Villafane may not have that many songs and moments, but she nails every one. Aided by the book, her Gardner is instantly one of the best characters in the show. Although Doyle, and his permagrin, probably more closely resembles Cliff Richard than Frank Sinatra, Doyle's singing is so on point, I overlooked his appearance. It's the book that lets him down, and it's the songs that lift him up, even as he lifts them up. As Sinatra's quiet man Dad, Vincent Riotta is utterly winning, affably depicted barely ever saying anything, but when he does open his mouth, every word is glorious. This musical has a superb cast and superb songs, but if you want an audience to care, the central character has to have a book that credits him with a credible internal life behind the toothy smile. 3 and a half stars for the slick staging, superb stars and swoony songs.  |
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Post by showgirl on Oct 16, 2023 3:03:35 GMT
I also saw the matinee on Saturday 14 and was happy with my experience, having made a long &, for me, expensive trip in the hope of being entertained and having a good time - boxes ticked. Maybe I have lower standards but if so, just as well given some of the more recent critical comments: I certainly couldn't agree with Being Alive that this "would be laughed out of the West End" though I concur with Steve 's succinct summary "slick staging, superb stars and swoony songs" and 3-and-a-half star rating. I did find the scenes with both Ana Villafane and Phoebe Phanatos well-written and painfully poignant at times whilst Sinatra's parents were equally watchable whenever they featured; it was the character of Sinatra himself which, as others have said, wasn't developed or explored in either the sufficiently satisfying depth you'd expect for the title role nor that the audience needed in order to engage with him fully. Unrelated to the show itself but I also encountered an assistance dog for the first time in a theatre and whilst of course I understand the reason for these and approve in principle, in practice it was bizarre and unsettling and I do think the theatre should have allocated those customers (they were a couple plus her dog) to access seats or at least one on aisle or with extra space. Instead they were next to me, in a normal row, sandwiched in between others and even reaching their seats for the couple and dog in question was difficult as there isn't much legroom; everybody had bags and coats and the couple arrived late. There wasn't really space for the dog and it wasn't as placid and quiet as you'd expect but instead kept fidgeting and shifting position, nudging me and whacking me with its tail, which was quite unnerving once the lights had gone down and made me jump and fidget myself to try to avoid it. Others nearby had cooed over it when the couple arrived, but they weren't having to sit next to it and having been bitten by a dog twice in an 18-month period a few years ago, I found it nerve-wracking and was allowed by FoH to move to an empty seat nearby after the interval. |
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Post by Being Alive on Oct 16, 2023 9:31:59 GMT
It's certainly possible I have higher standards than most - there has just been so much mediocrity in theatre these past few years that we (as a collective) seem to celebrate and thus we get more mediocrity, and I'm keen for that to change.
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Post by viscountviktor on Oct 17, 2023 23:10:50 GMT
Matt Doyle was sensational.
The book is week and clunky.
I still had a great evening.
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Post by jacobjb25 on Oct 21, 2023 9:32:56 GMT
Ticket for sale for today's matinee in the noticeboard. I can't make it due to train cancellations thanks to flooding!
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Post by mrbarnaby on Oct 21, 2023 15:52:55 GMT
Finally managed to see this.
Meh.
The best things about this are the 2 lead women, both fabulous.
What amazed me was the total lack of theatricality- except the number with Frank sleeping with various woman.
Matt Doyle was fine, but he has nothing to work with in the script and there’s not a single hint of Frank Sinatra about him, visually or
vocally. Frank as portrayed here is not anyone you want to root for, or like even.
There is no way this is going to transfer.
My partner was so bored he left at the interval and went to a local bar. In retrospect I wish I’d joined him.
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Lol 😝 
