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CHARLETTE OBSERVER
Saturday, Sep 29, 2007
Posted on Sat, Sep. 29, 2007
Pay tribute to musical memory
JULIE YORK COPPENS
"You make me feel so young," a Frank Sinatra stand-in sings in "The Rat Pack is Back."
Baby, it's mutual.
Even for those of us born after the swinging Las Vegas lounge era ruled by Frankie, Sammy, Joey and Dean, the touring tribute act now at Spirit Square is a satisfying trip back in time. Whenever and wherever you were at your most romantic, most silly, most relaxed and optimistic, this ersatz Rat Pack -- four gifted actor/singer/comedians who are also credible impersonators of their respective legends -- will take you there, in 90 entertaining minutes.
An opening montage of video clips from the glittering Vegas strip, circa 1960, suggests where those of a certain age are about to return: to the iconic Copa Room of the Sands hotel, "A Place in the Sun" now consigned, like so many of its entertainers, to the shadows of memory.
McGlohon Theatre, a historic sanctuary still haloed in stained glass, isn't the perfect setting for a Rat Pack resurrection; when two of the guys go ga-ga over the untethered bosoms gracing one cabaret table near the stage, actor Les Lankhorst, the show's solid Sinatra, reminds his fellows they're in a house of God. And then he gets a good look for himself.
Host Blumenthal PAC must have had a reason for putting this production here, while booking "Late Night Catechism" -- a touring one-nun comedy act, running Oct. 16-28 -- in the wholly secular Booth Playhouse, but we're scratching our heads.
Of course, by night's end, when Lankhorst lands "My Way" with a studied balance of originality, imitation and homage, "The Rat Pack is Back" approaches a spiritual experience. The show's producer Dick Feeney, director Ben Lokey and musical director Lon Bronson -- clearly worship at the American pop altar, and every performer on stage embraces this material with an almost religious zeal. (The show's splendid big band, sure to become more so as Bronson and the cast settle in, is The Tribute orchestra of Charlotte.)
If Bobby Mayo Jr. comes across as an overly cartoonish Dean Martin, and young Nicholas Brooks lacks Sammy Davis Jr.'s incomparable grace, all the guys can sing. And every song -- even those, like "Mr. Bojangles," that actually post-date the Rat Pack period -- is one we're delighted to hear.
The show builds momentum naturally, as each singer delivers a solo set; each gets interrupted, hilariously, by Joey; some do numbers together; and then all four friends assemble, around a well-stocked bar cart, for the upbeat finale.
Catch this show, kids. They don't make 'em like this anymore. Theater
REVIEW The Rat Pack is Back
A touring re-creation of the legendary Las Vegas lounge act of Frankie, Dean, Sammy and Joey.
WHEN: 3 and 8 p.m. today; 2 and 7 p.m. Sunday; 8 p.m. Tuesday-Friday. Runs through Oct. 21.
WHERE: McGlohon Theatre, Spirit Square, 345 N. College St. ADMISSION:
$20-$54.
DETAILS: 704-372-1000 or www.blumenthalcenter.org. Julie York Coppens
