65 years after Ol’ Blue Eyes himself graced the London Palladium with his presence for the first time, his daughter Nancy Sinatra followed in her father’s footsteps to address the audience of Sinatra, The Man and his Music. She chokes back the tears to tell the audience that she still sometimes finds it hard to watch her father at work. She also said how much he loved London and how much he would have appreciated the tribute show in his honour. She definitely isn’t wrong there, for any Sinatra fans – and it’s hard not to be – it’s a lovely show paying homage to the man that brought us songs such as ‘Fly Me To the Moon’, ‘New York, New York’, ‘ That’s Life’ and ‘My Way’.

The show really gives credit to the work you can do with cinematic technology as most of the performance takes place as projections on a screen. The background takes the audience through Frank Sinatra’s life – often using his interviews as voiceovers but occasionally hearing from others in his life. For every song, a screen drops down showing Sinatra singing backed by a wonderful orchestra and twenty-first century colourful projections. It is cleverly put together, with that old movie feel and really gives credit where it’s due to the entirety of Sinatra’s talent and his everlasting legendary status.

A wonderful cast brings an extra dynamic to the show through astonishing choreography.  It is a shame that the cast is underused as they only perform in about half the songs and, even then, there is so much happening on stage that it’s difficult to focus. When each couple is doing something different and there is a large screen showing Sinatra performing his songs, it is hard to know where to look first. In fact, the majority of the performance is on a screen that makes it feel more cinematic than theatrical. The show does manage to provide an interesting yet fragmented telling of Sinatra’s life.

There are a few moments in the show where the orchestra’s obvious enthusiasm drowns out Sinatra’s voice which is a shame as normally they complement each other very well. They even manage to have Sinatra personally thanking the band for their wonderful work in the show.

It really does hit you that this is the closest you’ll ever get to seeing Sinatra live and that thought alone should bring you goosebumps. Sinatra is an absolute legend and shows like this will continue to showcase and highlight his unforgettable career.

Sinatra, The Man and his Music plays London Palladium until 10 October. For more information and tickets, see Sinatra, The Man and his Music website. Photo by Nobby Clark.