Music and lyrics by: Bob Gaudio
Lyrics by: Bob Crewe
Book by: Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice
Directed by: Des McAnuff
Cast: Christian Hoff (Tommy DeVito), Daniel Reichard (Bob Gaudio), J. Robert Spencer (Nick Massi) and John Lloyd Young (Frankie Valli) as The Four Seasons. The cast also includes Tituss Burgess, Steve Gouveia, Peter Gregus, Donnie Kehr, Michael Longoria, Mark Lotito, Jennifer Naimo, Dominic Nolfi, Erica Piccininni, and Sara Schmidt.
Synopsis: Based on the life story of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons: Frankie Valli, Bob Gaudio, Tommy DeVito and Nick Massi. The musical chronicles the lives of a group of blue-collar boys from the wrong side of the tracks who became one of the biggest American pop music sensations of all time. They wrote their own songs, invented their own sounds and sold 175 million records worldwide – all before they were thirty.

Polly Wittenberg's Review.

Sometimes a commercial artistic impulse and demography seem to merge in a way that guarantees success. I think we’ll be seeing an example of this phenomenon when the new musical Jersey Boys, about the lives and career of the pre-boomer pop group The Four Seasons, that just opened at the newly-named August Wilson Theater (formerly the Virginia) becomes the smash hit it deserves to be.

In recent years, there have been a string of middlebrow musicals with scores composed entirely of well-known pop songs. Some, like Mamma Mia, have been worldwide megahits. Others like All Shook Up and Lennon have been bombs. I expect Jersey Boys to fall into the former category, though perhaps not on a worldwide basis because of its distinctly New York area feel.

Set to dozens of classic rock tunes by Bob Gaudio and Bob Crewe, the new show is a better product than Mamma Mia, which has the great ABBA songs, but a puerile made-up story. For Jersey Boys, Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice have fashioned a touching bittersweet book from the real life stories of Frankie Valli (nee Castelluchio), Tommy DeVito, Nick Massi and Bob Gaudio, four guys from the ‘hood who became the original members of The Four Seasons.

It certainly doesn’t hurt that their tales include key elements of The Godfather and The Sopranos, like jail, loan sharks, drugs, casual sex and ODs or that it is all rooted in the Garden State in the 1950s, a period when many early baby boomers—now in their prime theater ticket-buying years—were young.

And then there’s the super-slick production developed by director Des McAnuff and his team at the La Jolla Playhouse in Southern California, where he is Artistic Director. From the opening scrim—a cyclone fence reminiscent of another megahit of the period (West Side Story), you know exactly where these guys came from. There is also the clever use of more contemporary tricks of the Broadway musical trade like projections of giant Roy Lichtentstein-like cartoons, old TV clips of Ed Sullivan and live video that adds to the you-are-there feel. So do the orchestrations which for the most part exactly duplicate the original song arrangements.

The cast hasn’t got any big names. Some of the leads are making their Broadway debuts. Many have been involved with the project since La Jolla. To a person, they are fine. Especially John Lloyd Young who has the piercing Valli falsetto down pat. Also Christian Hoff as the troubled but essential Tommy DeVito and Daniel Reicherd as the talented but super-arrogant Bob Gaudio.

I read an interview in which Brickman predicted a very long run for this show based on attendance by every citizen of New Jersey. Judging by the pre- and early boomer audience the night I saw it—which was rockin’ along and mouthing the lyrics from the very opening chords of “Oh What a Night”--they will be back more than once. It’s basically a nostalgic evening—but a thoroughly enjoyable one.

Polly Wittenberg

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What the critics had to say.....

BEN BRANTLEY of the NEW YORK TIMES says “The real thrill, at least for those who want something more than recycled chart toppers and a story line poured from a can, is that Mr. Young (Frankie Valli) has crossed the line from exact impersonation into something more compelling. ”
HOWARD KISSEL of the NEW YORK DAILY NEWS says "There's no point in beating around the bush — I had a great time."
CLIVE BARNES of THE NEW YORK POST says "It's a show still dynamically alive in music while, as a drama, it catches the very texture, almost the actual smell, of its time. "
CHRIS JONES of CHICAGO TRIBUNE says "They'd better start digging more tunnels from New Jersey, because when word gets out on this thing, every Garden State wiseguy is going to be calling for a limo and adding to the traffic clog."
MICHAEL SOMMERS of STAR-LEDGER says "Love classic rock 'n' roll? Enjoy juicy behind-the-scenes true stories? Then without a doubt -- and especially for Baby Boomers -- "Jersey Boys" is a hot new Broadway show for you."
JACQUES LE SOURD of the JOURNAL NEWS says "The book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice is a little long on narration, and you may find your eyes glazing over until the point, two-thirds of the way through the first act, when the boys break into television with an appearance on "American Bandstand." From that point on, though, you snap awake and happily ride the wave."
MICHAEL FEINGOLD of the VILLAGE VOICE says "For a new musical, Jersey Boys seems amazingly like a rerun."
ELYSA GARDNER of USA TODAY says "Flawed but unexpectedly winning homage to Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons"
MICHAEL KUCHWARA of ASSOCIATED PRESS says "Shows there still is theatrical life in mining pop hits from the past."
FRANK SCHECK of the HOLLYWOOD REPORTER says "Director Des McAnuff has delivered a fast-paced production that flows in cinematic fashion, thankfully avoiding the bombast that afflicts so many similarly themed musicals."

External links to full reviews from newspapers

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Associated Press
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