WITH such a great beginning, I had high hopes for this show but alas, I was fooled, and it rapidly went downhill to become another run-of-the-mill evening's entertainment.

Opening with classics I Got You Under My Skin and The Lady Is A Tramp, the 15-piece big band impressed and we looked to be in for a great night of musical mayhem.

But although singing their hearts out, our three imitators of timeless legends Frank Sinatra (Louis Hoover), Sammy Davis Jr (Rohan Reckord), and Dean Martin (Michael Neilson) became a bit of a bore.

Maybe I was being too judgmental because I didn't know some of the less popular numbers but I do have it on authority from a fellow audience-member (also a die-hard Frank Sinatra fan and veteran of previous Rat Pack shows) that the trio weren't the best in town.

Yes, the songs were OK for a bit of a bop-along, and the three female temptresses went some way in providing the 1960s glitz and glamour the show tries to recreate. But when you raise such high expectations you really have to hit the mark rather than produce a lacklustre series of songs and dances.

And another tip is to get your ending right - we never seemed to be sure when the curtain was going to drop for the final time and were stuck in an endless wrapping-up of the show, culminating in a rather tedious and dirge-like rendition of My Way.

OK, so Christmas with the Rat Pack was still a fun night out, but if you're expecting the show to leave you buzzing from the entertainment and all you come away with is a slightly festive feeling, then I think you've got a right to be a tad disappointed.

ECB