Wilton’s Music Hall, London – until 3 November 2019.
Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
After its Edinburgh Festival Fringe debut, followed by a residency at Crazy Coqs and an extensive UK tour, Sinatra: Raw has settled in at Wilton’s Music Hall, a legendary venue, even though it conveys less the Purple Room in Palm Springs than the Live at Zédel cabaret room.
Richard Shelton has already played Sinatra in several depictions of The Rat Pack, but this time he goes further in his portrayal of Ol’ Blue Eyes, revealing the artist’s darker side.
With the help of his best friend Jack Daniel’s, this dangerous 2am Sinatra lays bare his insecurities at a turning point in career, as he considers retirement out of desperation against the hegemony of rock‘n’roll in addition to his disappointing relationship with Ava Gardner and the end of his friendship with President Kennedy.
Using relatively lesser-known material, such as the opener ‘All or Nothing at All’, before giving in to audience requests during the last 20 minutes of this intense and emotionally charged 90 minutes, Shelton manages to convey the spirit of the legend in a difficult stage in his life without ever lapsing into imitation or parody.
In Los Angeles, he got the chance to sing with some of Sinatra’s actual musicians, recording his debut album in the process. This is one of several synchronicities between Shelton and the legendary singer with whom he even shares the same size of clothing.
The voice is very close too, and you don’t even have to close your eyes to imagine him under a certain light, the physical resemblance between the two also being quite amazing.
Actually more a play with music than a musical, Sinatra: Raw really shows how much of a free spirit Sinatra was. He just didn’t appear to care about anyone’s opinion. He was himself and did what he was passionate about: his music. This is why his repertoire, superbly accompanied by the magic fingers of Michael Roulston at the piano, is so much a part of him.
Most of these standards, such as ‘My Way’, ‘New York, New York’ and ‘I’ve Got You Under My Skin’ are so closely associated with him because he made them his own.
In a show he also wrote, Shelton gives a memorable gritty portrayal that stays with you long after the music has stopped playing.
Patrick Honoré
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