Sinatra: The Main Event – Cadogan Hall

Richard Shelton in Sinatra: The Main Event at the Cadogan Hall, London

Sinatra: The Main Event was performed at the Cadogan Hall, London.

Following a nine-week run at The Globe, Blackpool Pleasure Beach, Sinatra: The Main Event came to London’s Cadogan Hall on 10 October 2014 – almost exactly 40 years to the day since Frank Sinatra’s The Main Event, the concert that famously epitomised the singer’s dramatic comeback following a brief period of retirement, took place at Madison Square Garden, New York City.

This was more than mere historical coincidence; Sinatra: The Main Event endeavours to re-create the original with impressive attention to detail. Star of the show Richard Shelton remains in character as Sinatra throughout much of the evening, which incorporates topical allusions ranging from the Apollo 11 landing and the appearance on television of the original Star Trek, to Sinatra’s personal acquaintance with John F Kennedy and Martin Luther King. At one point, the controversy Sinatra had prompted in Australia earlier in 1974 is obliquely referenced.

As a leading Sinatra interpreter, Shelton commands the stage with charisma and panache, holding the attention and imagination of the audience for the entirety of the generously-proportioned show’s 100 minutes of non-stop entertainment as he presents signature tunes from opener ‘The Lady is a Tramp’ (Rodgers and Hart, from Babes in Arms) to the immortal encore, ‘My Way’ (Anka, François and Revaux). While choreographically one or two gestures may be a little over-used, vocally Shelton reveals himself to be equally at home whether belting Sinatra’s big band classics or crooning more sensitive numbers such as ‘It was a Very Good Year’ (Ervin Drake).

In the course of the evening, Shelton was joined onstage by West End and Broadway leading ladies Caroline O’Connor and Louise Dearman, with whom he duetted in songs including ‘Mack the Knife’ (Kurt Weill, from The Threepenny Opera) and ‘You Make Me Feel So Young’ (Myrow and Gordon, from Three Little Girls in Blue). Both fine additions to a stellar line-up, O’Connor and Dearman seemed to elevate an already momentous evening to still more exciting heights. Also featuring in a couple of numbers was international jazz saxophonist Renato D’Aiello, whose virtuosic solo provided the perfect introduction to the show’s finale, ‘New York, New York’ (Kander and Ebb).

The renowned Syd Lawrence Orchestra, under the direction of Chris Dean, provides musical accompaniment that is consistently remarkable for its robustness and precision. Ensemble highlights such as the instrumental breaks in ‘Fly Me to the Moon’ (Bart Howard) and ‘I’ve Got You Under My Skin’ (Cole Porter) contrast with many notable solo moments for muted trumpet, flute, piano, and for Dean himself on trombone, expertly leading a protracted instrumental in lieu of the interval. Perhaps inevitably for a 14-piece big band, on occasion they were in danger of over-powering the vocals – although the majority of the audience would doubtless have been more than capable of filling in the occasional lyric for themselves.

Incontrovertibly a magnificent tribute to one of the world’s all-time greatest entertainers and his extraordinary legacy, there seemed to be no better way to end the evening than with the public announcement that Richard Shelton will be joined next year by a galaxy of big-name celebrities for a new show, Sinatra 100, which commences its five-week run on 20 March 2015 to commemorate the centenary year of Sinatra’s birth.

Christopher Wiley

Readers may also be interested in:

Sinatra 100 celebration set for London Palladium – News