More WOW Reviews for Jersey Boys in Washington, DC!
November 15th, 2011
Michael Lomenda, Joseph Leo Bwarie, Preston Truman Boyd and John Gardiner (left to right) in Jersey Boys at the National Theatre. Photograph by Joan Marcus, courtesy Center Stage Marketing
More fantastic reviews for the JERSEY BOYS first national tour production’s return to the National Theatre! Check out previews to the latest:
Jolene Munch Cardoza, Washington Examiner.com: That’s largely thanks to the boys in “Jersey Boys.” As with any musical group, there has to be a star in the midst, and this evening’s focal point is, of course, Valli. He is the irrefutable headliner — fail to cast a bona fide replica in the role and the whole production feels pedestrian. Luckily, this tour finds Joseph Leo Bwarie in top form as Valli’s facsimile, a bright and shiny young crooner with limber vocal acrobatics and an ever-magnetic presence. Bwarie’s voice is rich and lush in his lower register, and clear as a bell in his falsetto range, producing a brilliant sound that is matched by the formidable talents of castmates John Gardiner, Preston Truman Boyd, and Michael Lomenda, all of whom attack each song with athletic fervor.
With such crisp performances that make each song sound as fresh as the day it hit the airwaves, this production of “Jersey Boys” joyfully builds to a night to remember.
Gwendolyn Purdom, Washingtonian.com: The real reason to see this production, not surprisingly, is the music. The songs that were able to drive excitable teenagers to the dance floor nearly 50 years ago, like “Sherry,†“Big Girls Don’t Cry,†“Let’s Hang On (To What We’ve Got),†and “December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night),†still possess a strange kind of power with their snappy beats and harmonized hooks, particularly when performed with such energy and polish—there’s a good chance you’ll need to have the tunes surgically removed from your head in the weeks following the show. It’s no wonder the National Theatre brought this musical back for an encore.
