I had seen Richard Shelton in the Frankenstein venue in the past deliver some really good shows featuring the music of Frank Sinatra, and it was a joy to watch him. Richard is a super fan of the Chairman of the Board and delivers a superb vocal performance every time. His uncanny resemblance both vocally and visually is a big bonus and that added extra of the fact that he wears one of Sinatra’s own tuxedos gives any show he performs a little bit extra.
This time it was a change of venue and a more dramatic role, but still plenty of music to satisfy anyone in the audience. Set on the eve of 1980 it’s a show which saw Frank in a depressed state of mind. The hits had dried up, he was bitter towards certain people and to all intents and purposes this was a troubled man who took to drink to get through the night which could have gone one of two ways. He even had the tablets ready to use with plenty of Jack Daniels to hand to wash it down. Yes, this could have been the night Sinatra died!
Richard Shelton was at his brilliant acting best on this showing, reminding us of how good he is. He was on point vocally as well and make no mistake this is a first class five-star show, ably backed by the piano player. It’s a dark musical play peppered with strong language. It’s quite raw but gripping at the same time. The venue is ideal for this show but the back of the room is open plan and at times it was distracting with people at the bar chatting away on a few occasions – no fault of Richard but the management didn’t control the situation and this went on longer than many would have liked, particularly those in the rows at the back.
When speaking with Richard beforehand in an in depth interview on Fringe Radio Richard revealed that he would love to see this play turned into a movie. It would certainly be a great move for the play which deserves a bigger audience. The fact that there hasn’t been a film about Frank Sinatra yet is surprising – if it does get on the silver screen Shelton is the obvious choice. A must-see show and a triumph once again for Richard Shelton.
