Here’s some advanced news of how you can enjoy a little vintage Las Vegas this Christmas.
The ever popular The Rat Pack - Live From Las Vegas returns to the West End 13 Dec - 3 Feb.
It’s an Olivier nominated entertainment that recreates a performance given in Vegas by Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr in the early 1960s using clever modern actors to impersonate the stars' appearance in the Copa Room of the famous Sands Hotel.
The original and actual performance was a cultural phenomenon in its day with A list celebrities and even U.S. presidents scrambling to catch the much loved entertainers singing hit songs and exchanging banter, all oiled with plenty of alcohol.
Together and separately the stars' appeal was phenomenal setting trends in fashion and popular entertainment with a series of hit films and TV appearances.
Relive those glory days as the cast recreate the very best of the trio’s material including classic songs like The Lady is a Tramp, Mr Bojangles, That’s Amore, I’ve Got You Under My Skin, What Kind of Fool Am I?, Volare, My Way, Candyman, and Everybody Loves Somebody.
The Evening Standard described the show on a previous visit to London, when it clocked up over 1,000 West End performances, as “A triumphant production with two-and-a-half hours of vintage entertainment guaranteed. To borrow The Rat Pack’s own phrase, ‘ring-a-ding-ding’.”
Don't expect lavish production values, there's a minimal set, it’s all about the guys and their macho swagger but they're supported by by impersonators of backing singers "the Burrelli Sisters" who also get time in the spotlight and everything's accompanied by a recreation of The Rat Pack Big Band.
If you catch the show between the 13 December and 6 January the producers also promise a special Christmas version that will include “the Pack’s unique take on such festive classics as Baby It’s Cold Outside, Merry Little Christmas, White Christmas, Winter Wonderland, Jingle Bells and Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow.
Sounds good to me. Why not take up their invitation to “drift back in time to an era of glitzy nights spent on the Vegas strip in the company of three of the world’s most popular entertainers”.
You’ll find the Rats at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket following a national tour.
The modest Charing Cross Theatre, situated underneath the arches of the railway station which gives the venue it’s name, is fast establishing itself as a home for innovative and quality musical theatre.