Jersey Boys–A Broadway Smash!!
November 14th, 2005Just check out what some critics are saying about Jersey Boys!
AP Drama Critic Michael Kuchwara
“When it sings and moves, this musical biography of pop icons Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, which opened Sunday at Broadway’s August Wilson Theatre, really rocks. The energy is unstoppable, particularly from the four lead performers Christian Hoff, Daniel Reichard, J. Robert Spencer and the amazing John Lloyd Young as Valli.”
Mark Denton: nytheater.com
“I love this show, I admit it. I love the 34-song score (billed officially as music by Gaudio and lyrics by Bob Crewe, but in fact including songs by scads of others, from “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love” to “Let’s Hang On (To What We’ve Got)” to “Earth Angel”). I love the shrewd, clever, big-hearted book—a fable, to be sure, but one sanctioned by all the living participants.”
New York Post
“It’s an engrossing tale of doggedly deserved blue-collar success, painted and tainted with the overtones of personal ambition, plus the occasional stealthy undertones of mob involvement. After all, we’re talking New Jersey here!”
John Simon of Bloomberg
“Jersey Boys, at the August Wilson Theatre, is quite simply the best jukebox or song-catalog musical so far. It rousingly recreates the catchy songs, convoluted lives and roller-coaster careers of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. Never having heard more of the group than their names, and lacking all interest in them and their music, I entered the theater a skeptic, but promptly turned believer.”
Ben Brantley, New York Times
“The chief source of fresh air, though, is Mr. Young, who mutates from hopeful teenaged schlemiel to regretful falling idol with a spontaneity that never fades. When this Frankie Valli sings, you sense him channeling all the messy, happy, angry feelings of his life without straying from the required official voice. Like Mr. Valli, Mr. Young has a quirky authenticity that can’t be faked or learned. His intense belief in his character shimmers like sunlight amid the fluorescence of Jersey Boys.”
I was the Detroit DJ who found Billy Lee & the
Rivieras, put them on my TV show, and had them
make appearances around Detroit. I called my friend, Bob Crewe, and sent him a tape. He used the actual tape to make their first big
hit, “Devil with the Blue Dress”. Frankie Valli & the 4 Seasons, meanwhile, were coming into Detroit now and then for personal appearances…I had them on the show & was so
amazed at their great performance. So nice to
see this show, “Jersey Boys” highlighting all their music…they sure deserve it.
Comment by Dave Prince — March 18, 2006 @ 5:39 pm