Rat Pack Invades T.O.
Posted December 21, 2007 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
They were the essence of cool, pure as the water in Ocean’s 11, hot as the sun on the Vegas strip, and able to get away with almost anything in the days when political correctness was an unheard of term.
Their first names were Frank, Dean and Sammy. Their last names were Sinatra, Martin and Davis. But to the world they were known simply by a three word moniker: “The Rat Pack.”
Now the talents that became legendary as much for their music as their antics are back, brought to the stage in a new show called “Christmas With The Rat Pack: Live From Las Vegas.” But that title isn’t quite correct – it’s actually live from Toronto at the Princess of Wales Theatre.
The trio who play the well known icons have a lot to live up to. And what’s most incredible is how well they actually do. “I just started drinking and smoking,” jokes Nigel Casey, who plays Dean Martin.
“It’s fabulous music,” he points out. “I mean back then you had the greatest arrangers, the greatest script writers, they gave their songs to the greatest singers … It’s just classy music.”
David Hayes knows living up to Sammy Davis Jr.’s memory is an almost impossible task. But he manages it, anyway. “We are transforming. We’re going back to 1960, and when you put your suit on, you listen to the music, you transform. And the audience are on this journey with us. So what happens is we are the guys.”
For Stephen Triffitt, whose Sinatra is about as close as you can get to the real thing, it’s far more than just about being with some strangers in the night. His approximation of Ol’ Blue Eyes is simply uncanny.
But if you want to hear him and the others in the troupe, you won’t have much time. The show is only on for ten performances and plays appropriately enough until New Year’s Eve – a date all three of the famous figures would likely have felt right at home working.
For tickets and more information about the show, click here.
