June 6, 2007

Jersey Boys in LA–Some Kind of HOT!

June 6th, 2007

Evan Henerson, Theatre Critic for the LA Daily News gives JB 3 1/2 stars! Here’s a preview of what Henerson said about this megahit:

The Four Seasons springs from Tommy DeVito (Deven May), the group’s hustling, gambling-addicted leader who talks like Christian Slater and – we’re to understand – puts his own interests above the group’s. Bassist Nick Massi (Michael Ingersoll) is a legitimate musical talent but also an eccentric neat freak who – like Tommy – has some prison experience.

Tommy recruits singer Frankie Valli (Christopher Kale Jones) who, while green to the Jersey ways, has the voice of an angel. Gaudio, the musical brains, the guy not from Jersey, completes the quartet.

When these actors Season-alize, it’s some kind of hot. Clad in period-friendly formal wear (Jess Goldstein is the costume designer), Bergen, Ingersoll, May and Jones capture the band’s upbeat, can-do spirit without going into imitation. The music deepens ever so slightly as the original quartet disbands and Jones’ Valli really gets the opportunity to cut loose.

Read the entire review on DailyNews.com.

1 Comment »

  1. Evan’s review is totally “spot on”!!!!! As I’ve watched and listened carefully to all seven performances played by four different “Frankies” and various Four Seasons, not to mention TV teasers, it all makes sense otherwise it would not be as popular as it is!

    The music of the Four Seasons lived in jukeboxes for decades before the play was introduced in LaJolla, but is not considered that type of musical. That point was also agreed upon by that insightful critic.

    The fun thing about reading Jersey Boy reviews are the different ways the critics describe the plot, music, the actors and comparisons to the actual Four Seasons. “You get hundreds of critics talking about Jersey Boys, but you also get hundreds of different reviews about the play”…..

    Comment by Mike B. Magbaleta — June 6, 2007 @ 10:32 pm

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