BWW Reviews: CHRISTMAS WITH THE RAT PACK at the Fox Theatre

A good cover band faces the challenge of living up to its audience's expectations every time they play a number that somebody else wrote and performed. But, no one can realistically expect even the best cover band to hit the mark every time. That's what makes Christmas with the Rat Pack-Live at the Sands interesting in the same way that Rain or the Australian Pink Floyd are. In each case there's a focus on a particular sound, but the Rat Pack may be the hardest to actually replicate. It was a frozen moment in time when Sammy, Frank and Dean came together to strut their stuff, usually accompanied by the comic routines of Joey Bishop. The current show playing the Fox Theatre imagines the Rat Pack (sans Bishop) performing a Christmas show, and it's complete with all the banter and manic antics one would expect.

As an aficionado of these performers and that era in particular (although I've always liked perusing the different periods of Sinatra for their vocal contrasts), I can only say that the group does credible work, but falls a little short of expectations. Though the members here have a vague resemblance, and their voices are close in some ways, too many times they just don't sound right. The selections are fun, the jokes are predictably stale, and sometimes politically incorrect (hey, what do you expect), but overall the production is solid, if unspectacular. The real star may be the big band who swing really hard on these classic arrangements.

Alex Banks was the substitute Sinatra the night I attended and was definitely the weakest of the trio. His asides just seemed mean spirited, like Frank on a bad night, and his vocals just didn't cut it. However, Mark Adams does a remarkable job with his take on Dean Martin, capturing the boozy sway of his voice and casually funny demeanor with aplomb. Giles Terera brings a considerable amount of energy to his role as Sammy Davis Jr., and while he's often the brunt of the humor, he also has the vim and vigor to occasionally outshine his fellow performers. Soophia Foroughi, Grace Holdstock, and Frankie Jenna (Leanne Howell takes the Swing role to give each performer a night off as needed) add nice vocal harmonies and some lovely blonde, brunette and red-headed cheesecake to the show as the Burelli sisters.

Mitch Sebastian's direction tries to reproduce the near impossible in conjuring up the actual atmosphere these talented gentlemen practiced at the Sands in Vegas (Jo Kempton is the resident director), but he's close enough, often enough, to warrant appreciation. Working from Roy Smiles script gives the pieces an authentic feel, even when the vocals don't live up to the originals. Sean Cavanaugh's set is a big splashy and colorful delight, and Mark Wheatley's lighting makes the most of the moments offered up. Musical supervisor Matthew Freeman probably has the most fun putting together the wonderful cross section of material that combines Christmas tunes with other well known selections from each icon's catalog.

Christmas with the Rat Pack-Live at the Sands is a decidedly mixed bag, but provides an enjoyable couple of hours, nonetheless. This production continues through December 18, 2011 at the Fox Theatre.

 

 

To post a comment, you must register and login.