Friday: Jersey Boys (by Philip)

There is a phenomenon on Broadway called the Juke Box Musical. It’s basically a show that is put together form a collection of songs by a particular artist or group. A story-line is put together to fit their songs and create a Broadway show. More often than not, the author fails.

There have been successful Juke Box Musicals like Ain’t Misbehavin’ which won the Tony Award for best musical back in 1978. Then there is Mamma Mia which is playing to sold out audiences, even though I think that it’s not the best example of a good Juke Box Musical but then again there is on accounting for taste.

In recent years there have been a number of these musicals that have come and quickly gone. The latest being The Times They Are A Changin’ which is set to close less than a month after it opened after receiving a critical mauling. That show featured the music of Bob Dylan and was created and directed by acclaimed choreographer, Twyla Tharp, who had gotten pretty good reviews for her work on another recent Juke Box Musical, Movin’ Out, based on the music of Billy Joel. That was one of the few successes of this genre in recent years but it was the exception and not the rule.

Lennon, a show featuring the music of John Lennon, Good Vibrations, featuring the music of the Beach Boys, Ring Of Fire, featuring the music Johnny Cash, All Shook Up, featuring the music of Elvis Presley, all died painful deaths and deservedly so. Now there is Jersey Boys, featuring the music of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons.

I approached this musical with great trepidation. Yes, I know that it had won the Tony for Best Musical but so did Spamalot and I was totally disappointed in that show. So, we went to see this musical and could only get tickets for the very last row of the theatre, row Q in the Mezzanine. The set reminded me of similar sets from the musical Brooklyn and West Side Story with chain link fences and a scaffolding type look. The musical began with a very pop/rock version of one the Four Seasons’ numbers, in French, and in my mind I went “oh oh, what are we in for this evening?” That was the last moment of that kind of questioning because as the show progressed it was quite evident that we were in for a real treat.

Now, I like Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons but I would not classify them as one of my favorite groups but this show has given me a greater respect for what this group went through to accomplish what it did and now a greater appreciation of the music knowing that.

Every one of the performances were spot on. John Lloyd Young, who plays Valli, is so convincing it’s as if he is channeling the singer. His voice is quite incredible with a falsetto to die for. Christian Hoff plays Tommy DeVito to perfection. Daniel Reichard and J. Robert Spencer round out the Four Seasons. Not since Beatlemania has any group come as close to impersonating the originals. By the way, all of these actors have been with this show for a full year and they celebrated that anniversary on November 5th.

The book, which is the main thing that sets this musical apart from those others, is written by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice. Brickman is best known for having collaborated with Woody Allen on the screenplays for Annie Hall and Manhattan. The direction is by Des McAnuff and the last production that I saw of his was The Who’s Tommy which was equally as satisfying.

So, if you hear that there is a Juke Box Musical called Jersey Boys and your first thought is “Oh no, not another one of them”, think again! This is not just a good Juke Box Musical, this a good musical period and should not be missed.