6 / 10
If you really like Frank Sinatra, this is absolutely fine. But it’s so far from exceptional. And for a big West End show with clear Broadway aspirations it should be so much better. The last massive bio-musical was MJ. It had its problems. It also had a canny book by a world-class playwright (Lynn Nottage) and, more to the point, its lead actor Myles Frost embodied all that was electrifying about Michael Jackson as singer and dancer.
7 / 10
Sinatra’s producer daughter Tina, who helped shape the story, wanted her father to be better understood. But a reluctance to embrace too much darkness lends a sense that things just happen to our hero. It’s at odds with the comeback narrative and the stubbornness we’re told he’s inherited from his Italian mother – Jenna Russell, who can steal a scene with just a single line delivered on a telephone.
SINATRA THE MUSICAL, now playing at London's Aldwych Theatre, has released a new trailer featuring Joel Harper-Jackson and the cast of the Joe DiPietro-written, Kathleen Marshall-directed production. Watch the video.
Sinatra The Musical is now open at the Aldwych Theatre. The production stars Joel Harper-Jackson as Frank Sinatra, Ana Villafañe as the movie goddess Ava Gardner, and more. See what the critics are saying in BroadwayWorld's Review Roundup.
The stories about Francis Albert Sinatra are endless. Two decades before Beatlemania hit the States, thousands of girls queued around the block so they could see the short, skinny kid from Hoboken sing while they cried, screamed and fainted. He had a thick New Jersey accent and a thin skin, punching one critic in the back of the head and physically threatening other members of the press. His friendship with mob members and their goons supposedly helped him out of a recording contract and for decades the FBI kept a file on him running to thousands of pages. He was close friends with Marilyn Monroe and gifted her a dog; she named it “Maf”, short for Mafia Honey, just to wind him up. At the age of 48, he dated a teenage Mia Farrow and the two eventually married in 1966.
All new photos have been released of the West End premiere of Sinatra The Musical, based on the life and career of the legendary artist and cultural icon. Check out the photos here.
New rehearsal photos and footage have been released from the West End premiere of Sinatra The Musical, the new musical based on the life and career of the legendary artist and cultural icon. Check out the video and photos here!
Recently, we had the chance to speak with Joe DiPietro about Sinatra before its run in the West End. We discussed what made him want to create a musical about Frank Sinatra, how this show compares to Diana: The Musical and even some of the conversations he’s had with one of Sinatra’s daughters, Tina Sinatra!
Olivier Award winner Jenna Russell joins the full cast of SINATRA THE MUSICAL, set to begin performances June 3, 2026 at London's Aldwych Theatre, featuring over 20 Sinatra hits.
Joel Harper-Jackson will play Frank Sinatra in Sinatra The Musical – the West End premiere of the new musical based on the life and career of the legendary artist and cultural icon.
