Jersey Boys is a Broadway Blockbuster
When one thinks of a jukebox musical one’s mind is quick to think about the peppy hit Mamma Mia, where songs appear at each plot twist and make us nostalgic of our adolescence every step of the way regardless of how sexualized our thoughts were during that time period.
Jersey Boys, however, is a jukebox musical that’s completely the opposite. In fact it’s as far away from that association as it possibly can be. The musical unwraps like anything but a family friendly label and tells the story of the famous American rock band The Four Seasons. Jersey Boys contains top 40 Four Seasons songs which catapulted the band to super stardom and led to their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
The Musical
The storyline is brilliant and the audience is instantly immersed in a world of gambling, crime, drinking, women and all the baggage that comes with being in a group that has a fan-base in every nook and corner of the world. The musical biopic boldly portrays and reveals private lives of band members Nick Massi, Tommy DeVito, Bob Gaudio and frontman Frankie Valli.
The story dramatizes the formation, rise to fame and eventual decline of all the original members of The Four Seasons. The show contains four acts each represented by a season of the year and narrated by a band member. Act 1 consists of Tommy DeVito and Bob Gaudio representing the seasons of Spring and Summer respectively while Fall and Winter are represented by Nick Massi and Frankie Valli during the second Act. Each member discusses their view of the band and their contribution to it.
As the story progresses the audience experience the unpleasantness of DeVito, the affection of Gaudio, the hesitation of Massi and the absolute loyalty of Valli. The acting is spot on and the four main characters have been superbly portrayed by Dominic Nolfi, Andres Rannells, Matt Bogart and Jarrod Spector respectively and take you on a journey filled with personal confessions, dirty jokes and womanizing. Throughout the show the audience feels that they are witnessing a musical biopic instead of a jukebox musical. The show gets it right by accurately portraying the personal lives of past rock icons. As a result of its high production values, brilliant storylines and choreography the show has developed a huge fan-base over the years which would explain Jersey Boys Tickets selling out like hot cakes on popular website TicketVistas.
The story is a rare blend of several human traits like honesty, lust, arrogance and greed; elements that are rare to find in other Broadway shows. The musical contains music composed by original band member Bob Gaudio, with thought provoking lyrics written by Bob Crewe.
The musical has won rave reviews from fans and critics alike from both sides of the Atlantic and should be experienced at least once by the theater loving audience.