More Critical Acclaim for Jersey Boys
December 4th, 2005In the Broadwayworld.com article “Jersey Boys: Welcome to Falsettoland†released today, reporter Michael Dale from Broadwayworld.com reflects on how the “jukebox musical is growing up.â€
Here’s a preview of what Dale writes:
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Now we have Jersey Boys; an exceedingly fun and electrifyingly staged tale of the rise and fall of The Four Seasons, which smartly uses their hit songs as a sort of background soundtrack to the story of a group of blue-collar guys establishing a distinctive sound during the early years of rock and roll. They sing songs on stages, in clubs, and in recording studios, but, aside from a couple of missteps, never as part of a book scene.
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Fans of The Four Seasons may walk in excited to hear familiar favorites like “Sherry”, “Big Girls Don’t Cry”, “Rag Doll” and “Walk Like a Man”, but they should leave the theatre impressed with how plot-driven the entire production is without ever short-handing the music. The jukebox musical has found its Pal Joey; a bit flawed, but ambitious, gritty, clever and professional.
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But the low points are minimal in Jersey Boys, which often achieves levels of serious musical theatre artistry Broadway has never seen before from shows with scores made up of rock and roll hits from the past.
