BWW Recaps: Sandy Hackett's RAT PACK SHOW - Much to Like

There is much to like about Sandy Hackett's Rat Pack Show, which played at the beautiful McCallum Theatre for three sold out performances on March 2 and 3.

Like so many others, I would have loved to have had the chance to witness the "real" Rat Pack hold court in the world famous Copa Room some fifty years ago and so I was greatly anticipating an evening that promised to deliver the next best thing. For the most part, it kept its promise.

After a brief slide show depicting the famous Las Vegas' Sands Hotel and its eventual implosion, the voice of God (the late Buddy Hackett) announced that he was sending the world famous Rat Pack – Frank, Dean, Sammy and Joey – down to earth for one final farewell performance. At first it sounded like a too obvious rip-off of the opening of FOREVER PLAID, but all was forgiven when the superbly talented entertainers took the stage in a high octane opening number that immediately transported the audience back fifty years to the smoky Copa Room and to what some have called "the greatest act Vegas has ever seen". Accompanied by a stellar 12 piece big band, the cast spent just shy of two hours performing the songs these four legends made their signatures --- some of the greatest standards in The American Songbook --- from "My Kind Of Town" to "The Best Is Yet To Come" to "Mack The Knife" to "Come Fly With Me", and at least thirty more. In between the tunes ---  plenty of patter, plenty of schtick, plenty of one-liners and plenty of booze.  For the most part the show has an honest "spontaneous informality" that mirrors the original and there seems to be a genuine affection among the cast.

When the dynamic four-some  are on stage together it is, at moments, nothing short of electrifying. Their energy is contagious and their interaction is captivating. It is when they appear on stage "solo" that the illusion fades. They are very talented performers, but it is really only when they appear together that the magic happens. Doug Starke is an extremely strong vocalist, but in no way resembles the legendary Sammy Davis Jr. in either look, manner or vocal style when he takes the stage alone. David DeCosta (Frank Sinatra) and Johnny Edwards (Dean Martin) are better suited for their respective roles, but when they are featured "solo" instead of in the "pack" they come off as "celebrity look-alikes" as opposed to the giving us the feeling we are watching the "real thing", as they do when they are performing as a quartet . Sandy Hackett (Joey Bishop) is the exception to the rule. His comic timing is so strong and he is so engaging that you never stop to question whether he looks like Joey Bishop or not --- he owns the room and doesn't miss a beat.

The two weakest performances in the show were Lisa Dawn Miller, as Frank's "one true love", and ten-year old Oliver Richman who played "Young Sinatra". The intention behind both sequences was right, but the performances detracted from the emotion the sequences were trying to evoke. Lisa Dawn Miller's vocal performance ("Wasn't I A Good Time?") felt so affected and lacking of any honest emotion  --- too forced  --- and it felt like she was wandering the stage a bit aimlessly. It might have been a lack of direction, but I would say her performance did the opposite, emotionally, of what was intended, I rarely critique the performance of children --- but let me just say that the "American Idol"  vocal stylization of young Richman did not fit in to a show that purports to transport the audience to another time and place. His pop-star-like performance of "Someone To Watch Over Me" did not suit either the costume he wore or a young Sinatra and although he is obviously a very talented ten-year-old I think his performance detracted, rather than supported, the show.

The stage lighting was terrific and perfectly captured the style and the mood of a smoky Las Vegas Night Club of many decades ago. The McCallum audience was far less critical than I and the show received a standing ovation from a good two thirds of the crowd.