It has been two years since I have written a review of a show. If I can remember correctly I believe since the last one I have seen: Alive in the World Benefit, Mamma Mia, The Little Mermaid, Sunday in the Park with George, Xanadu, In the Heights, Chess (Seattle community production directed by the amazing Mr. Roy), Damn Yankees (City Center), Cirque Dreams: Jungle Fantasy, Play it Cool (New York Musical Theater Festival), 39 Steps, In the Heights (again), Equus, Pal Joey, Shrek The Musical, Billy Elliot, Rent Tour, Defying Gravity: An Evening with Stephen Schwartz, and Jersey Boys. If I can find my playbills and have some time I will attempt to backtrack and write reviews, no promises though.
Jersey Boys
August Wilson Theatre
245 W. 52nd Street
Sunday 3/21/10 – 3:00PM
When I received the call from my mother telling me she got us tickets to Jersey Boys, I was excited. I had already seen the show the summer prior, but it was such a fun and amazing show that I had absolutely no problem seeing it again. And it did not disappoint.
For those living under a rock, Jersey Boys is the smash hit musical based on the life story and music of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. It won the 2006 Tony Award for Best Musical and has been playing to sold out crowds ever since. The story takes you from the original roots, young men singing under a street light on the streets of New Jersey to the peak of fame, the downfall and struggles and ends in the present (or well present as of 2005). All four characters take a turn narrating the action: Tommy DeVito & Bob Gaudio in Act 1 and Nick Massi and Frankie Valli in Act II. In doing this, you are able to develop more personal relationships with each of the members and get to know more about their individual personalities. It is a very fast paced musical and keeps you on your toes. There is obviously a lot of material and songs to cover and they have tried to include as much as possible. This was one of my personal favorite aspects of the show, the transitions between scenes and songs. The cast it self brings most of the props on and off stage, but it looks seamless. The four leads especially are non stop running around the stage, up the stairs and over the bridge to pretty much launch right into another song. The vocals of these songs are strenuous enough, then add the physicality of the roles and I don’t know how the actors do it, but they do. Other than the four leads mostly every other actor fills in for multiple roles which is interesting to me. You get to see someone in several different ways.
All of the groups biggest hits are featured such as: “Sherry”, “Big Girls Don’t Cry”, “Walk Like a Man”, December 1963 (Oh, What a Night), “My Eyes Adored You”, “Dawn (Go Away), “Big Man in Town”, “Beggin”, “Stay”, “Let’s Hang On (To What We’ve Got”, “Bye Bye Baby”, “C’mon Marianne”, “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You”, “Working My Way Back to You”, “Rag Doll” and “Who Loves You”. All songs are intertwined with dialogue and stories about what was currently going on.
The actors were amazing. I never saw the original cast live, but I have seen this cast twice and I was not disappointed one bit. Jarrod Spector was phenomenal as Frankie Valli. He physically looked the part and his voice was breathtaking. It is a very demanding role and he made it look easy. He had a lot of charisma with the rest of the cast. His “Fallen Angel” performance was hauntingly painful and beautiful at the same time and had even me crying, and that is not easy. I went to this performance as part of a bus trip and a lot of the group had seen the show with the original cast and there was a lot of chatter about Jarrod outperforming John Lloyd Young. I also greatly enjoyed his “My Eyes Adored You”.
Sebastian Arcelus was a joy as Bob Gaudio. The interactions between him and Jarrod were my favorite moments. You could really believe the love and friendship between the two characters. This is most seen during “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” where Bob is seen standing above alone watching Frankie with a look of pride and then they both look at each other in mutual admiration and Bob walks off smiling. Such a small moment, but touched me the most. I also greatly enjoyed Sebastian’s performance of “December, 1963).
Dominic Nolfi as Tommy DeVito was the new addition for myself. When I saw the show in August he was out and his understudy Erik Bates was on. This is the comedic role of the show and Dominic was great and kept the audiences entertained but I kind of preferred Erik’s take better. Dominic, to me, was a bit too exaggerated. But he had a smooth voice that complimented the role perfectly. Matt Bogart was there once again as Nick Massi. The role is sort of one-note but he does a great job with it. He is quiet and in the background of the group but gets some great moments. His “rooming with Tommy” scene in the beginning of Act II was hilarious. And I also have to point out how much I loved Peter Gregus as Bob Crewe. Such a fun performance, and it is really cool to know that he has been with the show since it was still in California. He did not seem bored at all with his role.
I definitely suggest everyone checking out this show at least once, but if you are like me, one time will not be enough. Being a Jersey girl, born and raised, the in jokes never get old and made me relate and enjoy it that much more. Hearing the town you work in mentioned in a Broadway show never gets old! It was also wonderful to see the show with my mother and her generation who grew up at the same time as the story and hear all their personal experiences. Who knew the members, family of the members, saw them perform in the early days, etc. It brought them all back to their hay day and you can see how much it meant to them.
Big thank you first to Johnny and Doug for taking me the first time and letting me lose my “virginity” right next to one of JB’s biggest fans! And second, thank you to American Legion Post 227 in Totowa, NJ for putting together the second trip.
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