Stage review: Sinatra and pals are a kick

In all honesty, I really shouldn't have been the one to review the current Broadway in Utah offering, "The Rat Pack: Live at the Sands." It's not so much a musical as it is a concert — it should have gone to our music critic, but I'm so glad it didn't.

What a kick! I've been humming that music since we left Kingsbury Hall, and I'm disappointed I didn't have time to rummage around for my old CDs before leaving for work today.

"This is sort of the concert that might have been," said creator Mitch Sebastian in a phone interview last week. Sebastian gathered clips, recordings, interactions and snippets of choreography and put them together for one great night of entertainment. "Everything that happens on stage during the show is something that actually happened." How lucky we are to relive a night at the Sands with the kings of Sin City: Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr.

It must be daunting to tackle a portrayal of performers so well known and loved, but the three men were not only up the challenge, they seemed to relish every minute of it.

The thrill of a night in Vegas kicked in as soon as the band did — a wonderful 15-piece band led by Matthew Freeman and comprised of a lot of local professional musicians. They brilliantly set the mood, and tempo, with wailing brass and great swing rhythm, getting the audience in the right frame of mind for a trip through the Great American Songbook.

Frank Sinatra began with one of his signature songs, "Luck Be a Lady." Stephen Rashbrook's portrayal of Ol' Blue Eyes was wonderful. With a great handle on Sinatra's unmistakable sound, Rashbrook also mastered Sinatra's style — the stance, the gestures, the head tilts — and, most importantly, carried himself with the gravitas needed to play a man called "Chairman of the Board."

After a few songs, Sinatra introduces "the three greatest words in show business: Sammy Davis Jr." Out shuffles David Hayes. Sammy himself once said, "That was the best singing impersonation of me that I have ever heard." What more needs to be said? Hayes' sound and mannerisms are very well done and he captures the exuberant essence of Sammy.

By the time Phil Barley sauntered on stage as Dean Martin, I was sold — convinced that I was sitting in the Sands. With the perfect amount of fluid looseness ... but not quite sloppiness, Barley sang the wonderful Martin hits, with drink in hand, plenty of one-liners, and convincingly delivered the various Martin pratfalls.

Act I is basically nonstop music. The glamorous Burelli Sisters, played by Nikki Stokes, Lucie Florentine and Joanne Dalladay, join the men with backup singing and some dancing. They sound great and look straight out of late '50s, early '60s, with all the curvy appeal of Marilyn Monroe. Sebastian, who also choreographed the show, was consistent with moves from the era.

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