The Rise and Fall and Legend of Four "Jersey Boys"

Now performing at the Curran Theatre, the second touring company of the hit Jersey Boys is “just too good to be true” and you’ll not want to miss them as they ready for their debut in Chicago this fall. Lucky San Francisco gets to experience the musical twice. While the first company has since departed for L.A., the second company -- led by Jarrod Spector -- has stepped right in without missing a beat.

The Review

“You ask four guys, you get four different versions. But this is where all of them start: Bellevue, New Jersey. A thousand years ago. Eisenhower. Rocky Marciano. And a few guys under a street lamp singing somebody else's latest hit." -- Tommy DeVito

And so begins Jersey Boys, the musical hit that chronicles the rise and fall and legend of a blue-collared group that became one of America’s biggest pop sensations. It’s a play complemented by music with the lead actors all taking turns in telling the(ir) story of how they were formed, of how they rose to fame, and how it all fell apart due to internal strife and personal tragedy.

Running 2 hours and 30 minutes, Jersey Boys doesn’t feel like it. With infectious, familiar songs and an engaging, compressed group biography, you get pulled into their world of early struggles, first-time appearances, and initial encounters: with one another, their sound, success, love, and disappointment.

When the boys -- Frankie Valli, Bob Gaudio, Tommy DeVito, and Nick Massi -- first appear on American Bandstand for instance, big screens hovering over-stage take you to that very moment. A clever concert performance, wherein the group plays with its back to us but in front of a million popping flashbulbs, also conveys what it must’ve been like for them at that time.

And while these milestone moments in the group’s life are naturally given attention, Jersey Boys also delves into the quieter, more personal times that in the end, had an even greater and lasting impact. From a famed handshake (between Valli and Gaudio) to marital woes to a major debt to be paid to tragic death, the group’s dissolution was a consequence of what seemingly happens to all stars: the fall.

But the story doesn’t end there. No, the legend is to follow, with the group’s induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990.

The musical-play doesn’t offer the spectacular. It’s sparsely designed with an elevated walkway that serves to transition characters and moments, and when there is the “big” moment, it’s cleverly done in a minimalist way (like the concert noted above). The appeal of Jersey Boys rests with its familiarity.

As for the actors, the second company is great and Chicago (LaSalle Bank Theatre, beginning October 6, 2007) will be lucky to have them. Led by Jarrod Spector as Frankie Valli, the actors all embrace their characters who are very specific in personality, singing ability, and role in the group. Spector, who was the understudy for Christopher Kale Jones in the first company, has his role down and lends immediate credibility to the production with his falsetto and middle register for Valli. The songs sound just right. From “Sherry” to “Walk Like a Man” to the triumphant “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You.”

Jersey Boys: the story of four blue-collared kids from Bellevue, New Jersey who lived the American Dream. It’s one that gets you invested and in the end, when they face the crowd today and ask “who loves you, pretty baby?”, the audience’s reaction says it all: the enthusiasm an exact match to those popping flashbulbs that greeted the group “a thousand years ago.”

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The Details

What: Jersey Boys, November 20 - December 30, 2007.
Where: The Curran Theatre, 445 Geary Street
Who: Book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice, Music by Bob Gaudio, Lyrics by Bob Crewe, Direction by Des McAnuff
Starring: Jarrod Spector as Frankie Valli, Drew Gehling as Bob Gaudio, Jeremy Kushnier as Tommy DeVito, Steve Gouveia as Nick Massi
Showtimes: Tue-Sat evenings at 8 p.m. / Wed, Sat, Sun matinees at 2 p.m.
Running Time: 2 hours and 30 minutes (including one 15-minute intermission)
Tickets: $30-$99

-----^{* Photo reprinted with permission of SHN. Review based on a
press screening, courtesy of SHN.}