Perth Festival: Sinatra: RAW

Perth Theatre - 24/05/23

Richard Shelton, vocal | Fraser Urquhart, piano

On the night of Wednesday 24th May, Perth Theatre became The Purple Room, Palm Springs, 1971.  Frank Sinatra (in the person of actor/singer Richard Shelton), accompanied by Bill Miller (jazz pianist Fraser Urquhart), not to mention his ‘friend’ Jack Daniels, prepares to deliver a farewell performance.  But memories of a lifetime of battles, triumphs and regrets crowd his mind and he candidly unburdens himself in a biographical stream-of-consciousness monologue of words and song.  Now maudlin, now defiant, sometimes bitter but always real, the result was a truly immersive experience and an evening of undiluted entertainment – another gem from the Perth Festival 2023. 

The initial mood was set by three great standards: “All or Nothing at All”, Cole Porter’s “I Get a Kick out of You” and “I’ve Got You Under my Skin”, addressed to the bottle of Jack Daniels, interspersed with Sinatraesque patter. The persona thus established, the reminiscence launched with an anecdote about the origin of the epithet “Rat Pack” – Lauren Bacall’s louche observation at a smoking, drinking, card-playing all-nighter at Bogart’s pad, followed by “It Was a Very Good Year”.   

Following a brief allusion to “All the Way”, Frank became ‘franker’ and less guarded, recounting the ups and downs of his relationship with Ava Gardner, prompting very moving renditions of “My Foolish Heart” (Fraser’s pianism particularly and shiningly magnificent in this number) and “Angel Eyes”, embedded in the increasingly maudlin narrative. 

After the interval, an increasingly red-eyed “Blue Eyes” told of his battles against, among other vicissitudes, bad publicity from being associated with mafia figures, celebrating the triumphs and dismissing the failures, including declaring proudly that his recording of “Fly Me to the Moon” was the first song to be actually played on the moon, thereupon performing it with panache.  The narrative part of the program concluded with the positive message of “That’s Life”. 

Still in character, Richard asked for requests.  My companion, never backward about coming forward, was awarded two in succession, Weill’s “Mack the Knife” and Johnny Mercer’s “Summer Wind”.  “Witchcraft” followed. 

Stepping out of character briefly, Wolverhampton-born Richard Shelton spoke of the joy of putting the show together and his partnership in the production with Fraser Urquhart (loud applause).  Back in character, we were treated to a full rendition of “All the Way”, “The Lady is a Tramp” and “One for My Baby (and One More for the Road)”. 

The performance concluded with the inevitable “My Way” (introduced coyly as the “National Anthem”) and, as a final encore, “New York, New York”. 

Both musically and in terms of characterisation, this was a truly excellent, memorable and wholly enjoyable performance.