Sinatra without the Charisma
“The Secret to a good marriage is that one talks and the other doesn’t.”
Dolly Sinatra
There was much anticipation for Sinatra the Musical, the legendary songs of the famous singer were looked forward to and do not disappoint. Joe DiPietro has created this musical based on Sinatra’s backlist but has taken as his storyline the dip in Sinatra’s career success in the late 1940s and the very early 1950s. What doesn’t work about this storyline is because we have all heard of the great Frank Sinatra, we cannot believe in his failure. We all recognise that it can only be transitory until he again reaches the top of the charts.
What make Sinatra’s talent special was not only his vocal range but the emotion his acting conveyed when he sang. This musical concentrates on his early career with various bandleaders and his affairs with various women. His wife Nancy, played by Phoebe Panaretos, sings as beautifully as Joel Harper-Jackson, as does Ana Villafañe as his lover, film star Ava Gardner. These lead female vocals make a nonsense of Sinatra’s exceptional talent as if a musical about John Lennon saw equal songwriting and singing talent from those playing Cynthia Lennon and Yoko Ono.
The other obvious problem with a jukebox musical is that each song does not progress the plot but is a force fit. Kathleen Marshall’s contribution as director and choreographer brings some strong scenes albeit with the dance styles of the 1950s era big bands but they alone are not enough to flesh out our understanding of Frank Sinatra the man. I longed for some of the camaraderie and comedy of The Rat Pack with those personalities making that audience believe that they were seeing the real people! Much of the comedy in this musical relies on Jenna Russell’s portrayal as Dolly, Frank Sinatra’s ambitious Italian mother which feels stereotypical.
The procession of women include Lana Turner (Becky Anderson), Marlene Dietrich (Allana Taylor), Judy Garland (Jenna Innes) and Billie Holliday (Melissa Nettleford). We see Gene Kelly (Adam Davidson) dance and meet Nat King Cole (Oliver Adam Reynolds). It is Sinatra’s part in the film From Here to Eternity when he won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for playing Private Angelo Maggio that resulted in the uplift for his career both as an actor and as a singer.
Joel Harper-Jackson does a remarkable job with the well-known songs but the book lets him down and reduces this musical to a collection of songs rather than something more iconic and emotional. You will have to wait to the Curtain Call for “New York, New York” a late Sinatra hit.
Musical Numbers
All Of Me
All Or Nothing At All
Come Fly With Me
Come Rain Or Come Shine
Fly Me To the Moon (In Other Words)
I’m a Fool To Want You
I’m Gonna Live Till I Die
I’ve Got the World on a String
I’ve Got You Under My Skin
In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning
Learnin’ the Blues
Mult Train
My Way
Nancy (With the Laughing Face)
New York, New York
Nice ‘n Easy
O, Look At Me Now
One For My Baby
Ring-a-ding-ding
Straiten Up and Fly Right
Tennessee Newsboy (The Newsboy Blues)
That’s All
That’s Life
The Best Is Yet To Come
The Hucklebuck
The Way You Look tonight
Witchcraft
You Make Me Feel So Young
Production Notes
Sinatra the Musical
Author: Joe DiPietro
Directed by Kathleen Marshall
Cast
Starring:
Jenna Russell
Carl Au
Helen Colby
Jenna Innes
Joel Harper-Jackson
John Stacey
Marty Maguire
Melissa Nettleford
Sam Brown
Samuel Nicholas
Stuart Hickey
Alexander Day
Oliver Adam-Reynolds
Phoebe Panaretos
Adam Davidson
Felicity Walton
Ana Villafañe
Lee Zarrett
Christopher Gopaul
Mia Musakambeva
Nardia Ruth
Emma Crossley
Becky Anderson
Christina Shand
Allana Taylor
Sylvie Regan
Mia Savident
Creatives
Director and Choreographer: Kathleen Marshall
Set Designer: Peter McKintosh
Costume Designer: Jon Morrell
Musical Director: Dave Rose
Musical Supervisor: Gareth Valentine
Lighting Designer: Bruno Poet
Sound Designer: Jonathan Deans
Video/projection designer: Akhila Krishnan
Information
Running Time: Two hours 40 minutes includingt an interval
Booking until 10th April 2027
Address:
The Aldwych Theatre
49 The Aldwych
London WC2B 4DF
Rail/Tube: Charing Cross or
Holborn
Website:
www.sinatramusical.com
Reviewed by Lizzie Loveridge
at the Aldwych
on 24th June 2026