Rat Pack brings Christmas cool to Dickson | OU Review

Final Score: 4 out of 5 Crooners

[Disclaimer: The Walton Arts Center offered and I accepted a free media ticket to this show. It was a gift, no strings attached.]

By Christopher Spencer

It’s the lounge act that set the standard and the Walton Arts Center show comes only one dry martini shy of recreating the real thing.

The Chairman of the Board, Frank Sinatra, assembled a crew of free-wheeling boozers and entertainers in the 1960s who turned Vegas on its head and helped speed the desegregation of nightclubs on the strip.

Those shining stars of Old Vegas were nourished back to life this past decade with the help of the 1996 movie “Swingers” a 1998 HBO movie called The Rat Pack and George Clooney vehicles’ Ocean’s 11 through 13. It’s no longer just your parent’s music. Their lifestyle and tunes have become the stuff of legend.

The Rat Pack is Back started its six-night run Tuesday at the Walton Arts Center. The show ends Sunday.

The crew assembled for this rendition of the Rat Pack stars Frank (played by Brian Duphrey), Sammy Davis Jr. (played by Kenny Jones), Dean Martin (played by Drew Anthony) and Joey Bishop (played by Mickey Joseph) at their pickled peak, along with a 12-member orchestra to add that Sands Hotel’s zing.

It’s a great time for anyone familiar with the amazing musical repertoire of these fun-loving figures. Duphrey’s rendition of “I Did It My Way” and Jones’ adept Sammy impression are almost worth the $30+ ticket price alone.

If you’re not a fan of these crooners, this isn’t the place to start. You have to go into the experience with at least a basic familiarity with the Rat Pack’s songs and ethos  - which can be summarized by booze, broads, off-color jokes and a broad deference to Frank by the others –  or the non-narrative theater piece will be much less appealing. Drop the final score a point, I’d say

The actors play to the audience directly as if it’s the 1960s and you’re in attendance. It’s interactive. Audience members are encouraged to sing at moments and there’s a total absence of a fourth wall.

It works and it works well. The tunes and seemingly impromptu jokes and banter between the characters will stay with you like a warming shot of scotch.

The humor feels PG-13 racy, with some mild language and period racism thrown in (mainly Polish, Italian and Jewish jokes). I think the humor is probably watered down from the actual crazed nights at the Sands in the 1960s where these boys made their own rules.

Also, Dean Martin smokes on stage or at least makes it appear that way. That was an unexpected and appreciated touch, certainly accurate to the time.

The performance opens with a stage almost bare except for a lone janitor. He waxes nostalgic about those days past in Vegas and, once the curtain rises, the glitz begins. I liked that contrast but was surprised the janitor never came back at the end. As a narrative technique, it’s odd to introduce a character and never revisit him.

The show itself is stunning visually and musically. All the hits are here.

Sammy and Frank

As I said above, Frank and Sammy are terrific.  Duphrey and Jones turn in performances that feel natural and fun and their voices capture the tone perfectly. They give it up for the audience and it’s a party I want to be part of, even if only for a few hours.

Jones’ performance of “Mr. Bojangles” – one of the more pathos-laden songs – is still with me.

Anthony’s Dean Martin felt uneven in ways that booze alone cannot account for.

At moments, he captured Martin’s cadence perfectly, but other times the illusion was broken as his voice drifted into Anthony’s own tone. Also, he pulled his punches in the songs, rarely delivering fully those intense show stopper notes at the end of a tune.

He could be saving his voice for a tough run of performances, but who wants to be in the audience when the actor is saving himself for another night?

Joseph’s Bishop seemed fine, delivering one-liners at the show open, playing the clown at other moments and joining in with the singing when needed. I’ll confess that Joey Bishop is the member of this Rat Pack I was least familiar with, but a person I spoke to during intermission said it was spot-on.

They added a seasonal twist to the performance by working in some Christmas classics. It was another solid touch that enhanced the entire evening.

If you’re up for something that adds a touch of musical mirth to your X-mas eggnog, you can’t go wrong catching this Rat Pack performance.

SIMILAR POSTS

• Cursive heat up the George’s crowd on a frozen night | Band Notes at 11:30 pm on December 11, 2009
• $25,000 reward offered in Bentonville missing women’s case | Press Release at 7:51 pm on November 10, 2009
• The Good Fear (including the Fayetteville Flyer boys) – “The Way You Were” (video) | Clipped Fresh at 12:36 am on September 11, 2009
• 30 Rock Review: Liz opts for oral on Valentine’s Day .. oral surgery, that is | Bethany’s Cultural Critique at 10:11 pm on February 15, 2010
• 30 Rock gets its groove back with ‘Sun Tea’ | Cultural Critique at 11:20 am on November 21, 2009