Paul Shaffer, band leader on “Late Night with David Letterman,” hit the mark when he said “Jersey Boys” is not one of those jukebox musicals.
This has got a story, Shaffer summed up, and he is so right. It’s a good story too, and remarkably sleazy when you recall that the Four Seasons were just kids, a group of doo-wopper teenage boys. So it’s hard to imagine gangster ties and such. But that’s part of what makes “Jersey Boys” so compelling, so incredible, so poignant. It’s that real-life story line that produced a blockbuster that can proudly claim something close to both musical and dramatic perfection.
“Jersey Boys” continues at the 5th Avenue Theatre in Seattle through Jan. 12. The show is so hot though — breaking all 5th Avenue Theatre box office records — that getting tickets might take mobster connections. Your best bet is to buy tickets to Tuesday, Wednesday or Sunday evening shows.
“Jersey Boys” has got a great story line, hits that keep on coming, comedy in the form of zinger one-liners delivered in pure Jersey style, and tragedy. You leave a little tainted, knowing maybe just a bit more than you wanted to know about these Four Seasons. But thank goodness before you leave the boys sing “Rag Doll” and the sexy “Who Loves You” and you’re on your feet once again.
“Jersey Boys” manages to pack in most of the major hits of the Four Seasons, the group made up of Frankie Valli, Tommy DeVito, Nick Massi and Bob Gaudio. Band members were played with the talents of Christopher Kale Jones as Valli, Deven May as DeVito, Steve Gouveia as Massi and Erich Bergen as Gaudio, all singing, dancing and acting their heads off.
Gaudio, the genius behind the writing of so many of the Four Seasons songs, started his career with the chart-topping “Short Shorts” before he ever met Frankie Valli. The relationship of these two men is crafted in subtle details but the point is made: A mutual respect was struck and their destinies were sealed with a combination of winning songs, the voice of an angel and a handshake.
This friendship was definitely a high point in the group’s history, along with many low points. The Four Seasons suffered because, though they could produce heavenly music, they were far from being actual angels. As DeVito said, when you grow up in Jersey, you either “mobbed up,” joined the Army or got yourself some hit records. So while the record deals were being made, so too were the back-door deals, the adultery and other mischief.
The story and the Four Seasons survive the sleaze, however, and succeed because of the music “Big Girls Don’t Cry,” “Oh What a Night,” “Let’s Hang On,” all part of the soundtrack of our lives. Incredibly, “Sherry” was an American Bandstand sensation after just two takes on a Sunday afternoon. “Walk Like a Man” was an anthem for working-class kids.
This was true-blue, blue-collar music. It was before the E Street Band, pre-Billy Joel, but surely the Four Seasons’ influence washed over those artists and others since then like the sounds of Valli’s dreamy falsetto voice.
Valli said it best during his soulful soliloquy about the Four Seasons’ high point. It wasn’t the Hall of Fame. It’s wasn’t selling 175 million records before they were 30. It wasn’t pulling “Sherry” out of the hat. It was making that sound. “Our sound. When everything dropped away and all there was was the music. That was the best.”
Reporter Theresa Goffredo: 425-339-3424 or goffredo@heraldnet.com.
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