Reviewed by Tony Annicone
The latest National Tour musical at the historic Hanover Theatre is the Tony Award winning musical “Jersey Boys”, about the lives and career of the pre-boomer pop group, The Four Seasons. The show is set to a dozen of classic rock tunes by Bob Gaudio and Bob Crewe. Writers Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice have fashioned a touching bittersweet book from the real life stories of Frankie Valli (Castelluchio), Tommy DeVito, Nick Massi and Bob Gaudio, four guys from the ‘hood’ who became the original members of the Four Seasons. It takes place in the Garden State in the 1950’s and contains unsavory elements found in “The Godfather” films and “The Sopranos” TV series including jail, loan sharks, drugs, OD’s and causal sex.
They were just four guys from Jersey, until they sang their first note. They had a sound nobody ever heard before and the radio couldn’t get enough of them. While their harmonies were perfect onstage, offstage it was a different story, a story that has made them a sensation all over again. This is the true story of four blue collar kids became one of the greatest successes in pop music history. They wrote their own songs, invented their own sound and sold over 175 million records worldwide and all before they were 30! Director Des McAnuff, musical director Michael Gonzalez and choreographer Sergio Trujillo create a sensational musical entertainment that leaves the audiences cheering in the aisles. What an exuberant and thrilling performance by one and all. Bravo!
Des directs the cast splendidly eliciting high energy performances and obtains well drawn characters from them. He uses film clips from Ed Sullivan and American Bandstand with a live video to make you feel you are at the actual performance of The Four Seasons. The musical direction by Michael is also spectacular and the dancing is breathtaking and performed in perfect unison by the talented 11 member cast. Playing the lead roles fabulously are Jonny Wexler as Frankie Valli, Tomasso Antico as Bob Gaudio, Chris Stevens as Nick Massi and Corey Greenan as Tommy DeVito. Through various vignettes we learn how the boys met, through various shady dealings and finally formed the group with Tommy DeVito taking the credit. Corey narrates the first half of Act 1 while Tomasso narrates the second half of it. The musical finally gets the crowd cheering for their first big hit “Sherry” then “Big Girls Don’t Cry” which was taken from a movie where John Payne punches Rhonda Fleming and that’s her response. Their third hit was “Walk Like a Man” which captured the fancy of the young men. Chris Stevens narrates the first half of Act 2 while Jonny narrates the second half. We learn Tommy had a gambling problem which almost bankrupted the group, Nick had a drinking problem and quit after Tommy was banished to Las Vegas. Then Bob withdraws from the group, only wanting to write and produce for Frankie. Frankie soldiers on becoming the front man for the new Four Seasons. They finally reunite at the Record Hall of Fame years later in Nashville.
Jonny commands the stage with his high tenor voice and his falsetto soars off the charts. His impressive solos include “Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You” which a record producer didn’t want to release which turned into one of Frankie Valli’s biggest hits, “My Eyes Adored You”, a poignant number in Act 1 when he breaks up with his wife, Mary Delgado and “Fallen Angel”, a tear jerking song about the loss his beloved daughter, Francine in Act 2. Tomasso displays his acting chops by being the most sensible one of the group, planning for his future and not living in the moment. He gets to sing “Oh What a Night” when he finally gets laid. Chris shines in this role with many comic moments as he complains about Tommy being a slob, wearing the same underwear for three days and using all the towels in the room and leaving them in a wet heap on the floor. Corey displays Tommy’s overbearing attitude and domineering personality when he commands the others to do his bidding. His final speech wins thunderous applause.
The other performers play multiple roles. Some of the comic roles include Michelle Rombola as Mary Delgado, a tough red head who breaks Frankie in to the ways of manhood, Wade Dooley as the tres gay Bob Crewe who produced their early recordings, Ben Bogan as Joe Pesce who introduces Bob Gaudio to the other boys to form The Four Seasons, Todd DuBail as Gyp DeCarlo, a loan shark who wants Frankie to sing “My Mother’s Eyes” with him crying hysterically while listening to it and Kevin Patrick Martin as Norman Waxman who demands that Tommy pay off his 150 Thousand Dollar debt as well as a cop from Ohio who arrests the boys for skipping out on a $120 hotel bill from the year before. (I have been reviewing Kevin since 1999 and he’s come a long way since the days of “Fiddler” to “Jersey Boys.” So for a rip roaring sure fire hit musical extravaganza, be sure to catch the National Tour of “Jersey Boys” at The Hanover Theatre. It will leave you dancing and singing in the aisles after you give it a well deserved standing ovation at the close of the night. It is a nostalgic night for those folks that grew up with The Four Seasons.
JERSEY BOYS (15 to 18 March)
Hanover Theatre, 2 Southbridge Street, Worcester, MA
1(877)571-SHOW or www.thehanovertheatre.org
