And speaking of small worlds, I wonder if Dom, and all of your JBB readers, know that Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons recorded for Motown for a couple of years in the early 1970s. They didn’t have any U.S. hits on Motown so they didn’t warrant a mention in Motown the Musical. However, it was not a fallow period at all. A Motown track called “The Night” was one of the biggest hits that the Seasons ever had in Britain and the rest of Europe. Also, “My Eyes Adored You,” which sparked the FV4S comeback in the mid-1970s was recorded at Motown. Valli bought the recording from Motown for a few thousand dollars, and it went to No. 1 on the Private Stock label. What a bargain!

While the Seasons do not appear in Motown the Musical, they were definitely affected by the events described in the play. One of the turning points for Motown, as we learn in the play, was when the company moved its headquarters to LA. Berry Gordy wanted to have a bigger, broader record company. Signing white stars like the Seasons was part of that strategy, which, unfortunately, didn’t pan out. Berry had better results, as Motown the Musical shows, when he diversified into the movie business by creating Lady Sings the Blues as a vehicle for his girlfriend Diana Ross to play Billie Holliday. Years ago, when Frankie Valli was asked why the Seasons flamed out on Motown, he complained that Gordy spent too much time on the Diana Ross movie to give the Seasons the attention and promotion they needed. But all that is forgotten now (except by me). I’m sure that Berry, Frankie and Bob Gaudio have a very friendly mutual admiration society these days. In fact, to anyone who has seen both plays, it’s obvious that Jersey Boys was the inspiration and template for Motown the Musical. Berry Gordy’s admiration for Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons has finally paid off big time for him.

From what I have read, there has been some speculation as to whether Berry Gordy writing the play himself could be as objective as Rick Elice and Marshall Brickman as third parties writing Jersey Boys. Even though there was some artistic license taken with the story with Jersey Boys, I applaud Frankie and Bob making the decision to literally have an initially disinterested third party write the play instead of trying to do it themselves.

Dom is absolutely perfect for the role of Barney, and was my initial reason for getting advance tix for MTM. I loved the show from beginning to end, and as you did, Pam, knew every song. Brandon and Valisia led a marvelous cast, and I just couldn’t believe that Brandon and MTM itself didn’t get nominations, especially since MTM is the highest grossing new musical on Broadway this season. I hope the Tony voters redeem themselves by voting for Valisia and Charl. But as Michael Riedel has said, “Berry and Bette (Midler) didn’t get nominations, but they’re crying all the way to the Bank while making out their deposit slips.”

And we can’t feel too bad for Motown. Please don’t forget that “Wicked” is still constantly the highest grosser on Bway…did it win “Best Musical” in 2004? No….who remembers “Avenue Q” upset in perhaps the biggest surprise in Tony history. But I still want to know how “Bring it On” (which was OK, but not great IMHO) got in ahead of MTM…..help me out here, Pamela…at least tell CBS-TV to give us some little Motown scenes on Tony night….deal??

I came at the very end of the Doo Wop Project’s show at Feinstein’s since I had a conflict that night, but hope to see them in person soon. It’s great to be able to follow all our former (and current) Jersey Boys in their newest projects.

And always good to catch up with Dom–he’s got a long run ahead of him here. I’ve learned so much about how long the process of being in such a show takes…I had thought it takes about 44 minutes as it does in “Smash”….