Frank Sinatra has found himself at the center of a modern theater controversy after audiences attending a lavish new musical about the legendary singer were warned the production contains smoking, despite the crooner being a lifelong chain-smoker on and off stage.
RadarOnline.com can reveal the new West End production, Sinatra The Musical, opened this week at London’s Aldwych Theatre, with tickets priced at up to $254 each.
The show charts the rise of Sinatra, who died in 1998 aged 82, from a young Italian-American singer performing at New York City’s Paramount Theatre in 1942 to one of the most famous entertainers in the world.
Alongside chronicling his relationships with his first wife, Nancy, and Hollywood star Ava Gardner, the production features many of his best-known songs, including That’s Life, One For My Baby, The Best Is Yet to Come and I’ve Got the World on a String.
The show’s content advisory has sparked debate among some theatergoers because it specifically warns audiences that the production includes smoking, alongside haze, swearing, mild violence, and nudity.
One theater source told us: “There has been a bit of disbelief from some people that a warning about smoking even needs to be included, but the producers are simply being transparent about what’s on stage.
“The fact is that cigarettes were an unmistakable part of Frank Sinatra’s image for decades. Whether he was performing live, posing for photographs, or appearing in advertisements, smoking was woven into the public persona that millions of fans recognized around the world.”
“Some critics seem to be treating the advisory as though it’s celebrating smoking, when in reality it’s just reflecting the life and times of the man the musical is portraying. You can’t tell an honest story about Sinatra without showing the habits and cultural norms that helped define both him and the era he lived in. To leave that out would be sanitizing history rather than presenting it accurately,” the source noted.
Another insider familiar with the production added: “The intention has never been to promote smoking or present it as something aspirational. What the creative team is trying to do is recreate a specific moment in entertainment history as authentically as possible, and Frank Sinatra’s relationship with cigarettes was undeniably part of that story.
“He performed in an era when smoking was commonplace in theaters, clubs, and television studios, and having a cigarette in his hand became one of the defining images associated with him. The producers felt that pretending this aspect of his life didn’t exist would be misleading to audiences. Their view is that a biographical production should reflect the reality of the person it is portraying, even if some elements of that reality are viewed very differently through a modern lens.”
The source added, “The feeling behind the scenes is that historical accuracy has to come before modern sensitivities. If you’re staging the life of one of the most recognizable entertainers of the 20th century, you can’t simply edit out characteristics that were central to his public image because they may make some people uncomfortable today.”
Sinatra, known worldwide as Ol’ Blue Eyes, was famous for smoking heavily throughout much of his life.
The singer puffed through at least two packs of cigarettes a day and regularly appeared on stage, in photographs, and during television appearances with a smoke in his hand.
His association with tobacco extended beyond his personal habits.
During the 1940s and 1950s, he appeared in advertising campaigns for cigarette brands including Old Gold and Chesterfield. Promotional material featured slogans such as “ABC – Always Buy Chesterfield” and “Like your pleasure Big?” helping cement the connection between Sinatra’s image and cigarette culture during the era.
The official description for the new theater production on the singer places audiences on New Year’s Eve in 1942, when a 27-year-old Sinatra is about to take to the stage at the Paramount Theatre in a performance that would transform his career and make him one of America’s biggest stars.
According to the theater hosting the project, the musical follows the hitmaker as his soaring popularity collides with personal turmoil, charting the impact of his relationship with Gardner and the hostile press attention that threatened to derail his success before he engineered a remarkable comeback.
A source close to the production added: “The goal from the outset has been to give audiences the fullest and most truthful depiction of Frank Sinatra possible, rather than a version that’s been filtered to fit modern expectations. When you’re telling the story of someone who became one of the biggest cultural icons of the 20th century, you have to include the parts of his life that people may debate today, as well as the ones they celebrate.
“Smoking wasn’t some minor detail tucked away in the background of Sinatra’s career. It was an instantly recognizable part of his image for decades. Fans saw him with a cigarette on stage, in publicity photographs, in movies, in interviews, and even in advertising campaigns. For many people, it was as much a part of the Sinatra brand as the tuxedo, the fedora, and the microphone.”
They noted, “The production team felt strongly that audiences deserve an authentic portrayal rather than a sanitized one.
“Nobody is asking theater goers to approve of every aspect of Sinatra’s lifestyle, but they are being invited to understand the world he lived in and the persona that made him famous.
“Whether people look back on those habits favorably or critically, it is a bit ridiculous that this ultra-woke smoking warning has been slapped on the production.”