I went to see the ‘amazing’ Sinatra the Musical at Birmingham Rep - here’s my verdict

Sharon Osbourne desribed the new Frank Sinatra musical at Birmingham’s Repertory Theatre as ‘fabulous’ and ‘amazing’ - and it really is hard to argue with that assessment.

The world premiere of Frank Sinatra: The Musical took place at the Rep on Saturday, Septmeber 23 and has been getting rave reviews since.

So I decided to head to the Rep on Tuesday night (October 3) to see the much lauded production myself.

The show may have been already running for over a week, but the Rep was still packed out on Tuesday with locals eager to watch what is being touted as the best show in town.

Written by Joe DiPietro, the musical tells the story of one of the most popular entertainers of the 20th century. DiPietro is no stranger to the Rep, he wrote What’s New Pussycat’ which premiered at the Birmingham theatre in 2021, before going on to tell the story of Sinatra.

The New Jersey-born star was one of the most popular entertainers of the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s and is among the world’s best-selling music artists. DiPietro and co certainly had their work cut out.

The singer, nicknamed ‘Ol’ Blue Eyes’ is of course best known for hits including Come Fly Me, and My Way which are all incorporated into the stunning production as Matt Doyle, who takes on the role of Sinatra, works his way through the hits in an incredible performance.

The play begins by telling the story of Sinatra’s early years and humble beginnings as a working class American Italian in Hoboken.

Tony award-winner Doyle provides a passionate performance as Sinatra during the two and a half hour production, which has been co-produced by The Rep along with Frank Sinatra’s youngest daughter, Tina.

The show is brought to life by Kathleen Marshall, who directed and choreographed the show, and Dawn Buckland provides some hilarious moments as Sinatra’s witty and proud mother Dolly, as does Vincent Riorra who plays his father Marty.

Phoebe Panaretos is also excellent as Sinatra’s suffering wife Nancy Barbato, and Carl Patrick is great with his energetic performance as Sinatra’s long time agent George Evans.

Elsewhere, there are top performances from Ana Villafane who stars as Sinatra’s love interest and legendary actress Ava Gardner, as well as Alastair Crosswell and Ryesha Higgs who produces a knock out turn as Billie Holiday.

After a 20 minute interval, the second half of the show tells the story of Sinatra’s comeback in which he emabrks on a more prestigious acting career that sees him win an Academy Award and a Golden Globe, as well as becoming one of America’s best ever selling musical artists.

It’s a must see show, which really delves into Sinatra’s, at times, difficult personal life, so get a ticket while you still can.

The production runs at the Rep until October 28. Tickets are available here.