7/13/2024 JERSEY BOYS City Springs Theatre Company
BY THE NUMBERS
Usually, when a reviewer says a particular show is a “by the numbers” been there seen that mediocrity, it’s not a compliment. To be perfectly honest, most juke-box musicals based on popular musicians follow a very strict “by-the-numbers” formula – future star shows out-of-the-ordinary talent, early years are a succession of hurdles and rejections, one song hits big and a star is “born,” spouses and friends come and go, access to excess leads to some very bad decisions, almost all is lost, lessons are learned, and the audience leaves singing all the hits and in high spirits. This is true of really good musicals (like Beautiful) and really forgettable ones (like … what was it?).
Sometimes, though, a show, as predictable as this formula may make it, takes off and truly hits the stratosphere. And, not to beat around the bush, Jersey Boys is not only one of the best bio-musicals I’ve seen, but one of the best shows, period! A number of assets form the basis of this remarkable show -- very clever structure, good dialogue, vivid characters, outstanding production values, and off-the-hook performances. The nostalgia-wallow of Four Seasons hits is just icing on the cake.
The most obvious number to discuss is, of course, four. It is a time of Beatlemania. Trios are out, quartets are in. The Four Lovers, a scruffy Jersey Band with a string of not-hit-but-okay-songs keeps seeing members drift off to prison – “We do things the Jersey way!” But, with the addition of falsetto-voiced Francesco Castellucio (soon dubbed “Frankie Valli”) and
boy-genius Bob Gaudio, a partnership and a “sound” was born. Original members Tommy DeVito and Nick Massi filled out the quartet. Gaudio wrote songs especially suited to Valli’s style and hit after hit soon followed. In a time of British bands capturing the hysteria of teen girls, the Four Seasons’ target audience was older working-class folks, anthems to lost love, vague dreams, bad choices, and hopeful perseverance captured a mood, an ethos that makes this music relevant even into this new century.
In a stroke of cleverness that pays huge dividends, librettists Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice structure the play in four “Acts,” each narrated by a different “Season,” each giving a personal (perhaps idiosyncratic) spin on the factors leading to the rise (and intermittent challenges) of the group.
It’s not a stretch to claim that the phrase “By the Numbers” can also refer to the musical numbers we see, most of them delivered in concert format, or in studio recording sessions. Haden Rider is a near perfect Franke Valli, using a falsetto with only passing similarity to Valli’s, but with a character and sound all its own that is of fertile service to the songs and to the character. And when he drops the falsetto for “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You,” it is a rapturous moment of exquisite joy. This is one of Mr. Rider’s best performances – he is not afraid to show us Valli’s rough Jersey edges, his quick-to-anger outbursts, his choice of touring rather than family. He is also memorably perfect in his vulnerability and regret and grief after his daughter’s death.
Outstanding work as the other “Seasons” are turned in by J.D. Myers (Nick Massai), Nick Walker Jones (Bob Gaudio), and especially Alec Beard (Tommy DeVito) whose bad decisions and amusingly self-aggrandizing narration drive much of the plot and conflict. Mr. Beard imbues Tommy with enough charm to make us forgive his deceptions and overwhelming debts. In other roles, Tyler Pirrung is hysterical as horoscope-obsessed Producer Bob Crewe, Chris Damiano is effective as Mobster Gyp DeCarlo. Frankie Marasa has some nice moments as a young (but recognizable) Joe Pesci, Chloe Cordle is memorable as Frankie’s first wife Mary, Amanda Fallon Smith is a nice polar-opposite as Lorraine, the reporter with whom Frankie connects, and Samantha Lane is absolutely heart-breaking as Frankie’s doomed daughter Francine. A large ensemble fills out a bajillion smaller parts and adds many backstage voices to most of the numbers. Music Director Miles Plant beautifully leads a 10-piece orchestra who, more often than not, find themselves as characters on stage.
Many numbers are also staged by director Shane Delancey and choreographer Meg Gillentine to create breathtakingly resonant imagery and juxtaposition – Frankie and his soon-to-be-ex wife Mary gracefully separating on moving staircases as he sings “My Eyes Adored You;” Frankie breaking up with the reporter Lorraine to “Bye Bye Baby;” Frankie turning “Don’t You Worry ‘Bout me” into a defiant anthem of survival after Nick Massi leaves the group; and, most moving, the ghost of Frankie’s daughter comforting him through ”Fallen Angel.” A huge video wall upstage backs up most scenes, often with a recurring Jersey city-scape as seen in various colors to reflect time of day. A mobile staircase and high walkway (evoking the look of back-alley fire escapes) keep us rooted in the group’s own roots. The video screens also carry live feeds of various moments –appearances on American Bandstand and The Ed Sullivan Show most memorably. And, in the concert moments, rotating lights bathe the audience in out-of-period but still effective flash and dazzle. The tech ensemble gels beautiful into a smoothly running machine in which cues synch and supplement each other – credit must be shared equally by Scenic Designers Mike Wood and Justin Gamerl, Lighting Designer Mike Wood, Projections Designer Paul Deziel, Sound Designer Anthony Narciso, Costumer Designer Amanda Edgerton West, who all turn in “personal best” work.
This show was a total surprise to me. I am (if you couldn’t tell) a bit tired of Pop-Star Bio-Musicals, and am no rush to “catch up” with the shows about Michael Jackson, Cher, Neil Diamond, Donna Summer, Tiny Tim, etc etc etc. I was even underwhelmed by the movie version of this, despite my joy in the Four Seasons songbook.
But Jersey Boys at City Springs is a consummate entertainment, a wallow in the joys of the pop music of my youth, an eye-opening spectacle that made me forget my usual beef with out-of-period theatrical technology, and an intelligently wrought and realized story of friendship, choices, the music industry, and being true to where you are from. If that’s the “Jersey Way,” count me in!
-- Brad Rudy (BKRudy@aol.com #JerseyBoys #CitySpringsTheatreCo #ByersTheatre)