Jersey Boys

Friday, October 14, 2005

I'm not writing about some drunken trip to Hoboken again, but about the new Broadway musical that's still in previews, Jersey Boys.

Going with the new trend of featuring a score from just one musical group (All Shook Up, Good Vibrations, Mamma Mia, Moving Out, etc.) this show has music only from Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons. Unlike the other shows I mentioned, which try to come up with a plot that weaves in the story from the different songs (Mamma Mia does this well though) this musical is about the creation of the songs and the band itself. How they met in Jersey, their struggle to make it big and escape jail, the mob and to balance family. Because the singers are Italian and from Jersey there is a lot of cursing, but I found it amusing and given the fact that my Italian family uses the F word in almost every sentence, I felt at home ;) Overall, It was like watching That Thing You Do meets The Sopranos but in concert form.

I really liked each actor playing the four musicians, I can't pick which one I liked the most, because they each added a different element and had their own story to tell. Usually there is that one actor that outshines the others, but my friend K said the same thing, they were all good in the roles.

However, the show is too long. They could have cut out a scene or two, but then it would have meant losing one of their songs like Sherry, Big Girls Don't Cry, Walk Like a Man, Oh What A Night, Rag Doll or Can't Take My Eyes Off of You, which would have been unfortunate. Since The Four Seasons had so many hits the show at times rushed through the songs and tried cramming them all in and it was definitely noticeable. The crowd the night that we went though was clapping and screaming out Bravo so enthusiastically it felt like we were really watching a live Four Seasons concert with the Biography channel playing their life story in the background. Warning, if you're not a fan of cursing or get annoyed by the high pitched songs, definitely avoid this show. But I found it fun despite being a little too long and am still singing the different songs at work...not out loud though.