Critic is Beggin’ You to See Jersey Boys in London!
June 18th, 2010Although the Burton Mail critic is not from the era of The Four Seasons and probably couldn’t tell you the title of any of their tracks until he saw Jersey Boys, he became a fan thanks to the clever and gripping story, the fabulous music, and the superb cast. Here’s a preview:
It’s true that the writers of the show Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice came up against this problem time and time again with the four key players Frankie Valli, Bob Gaudio, Tommy DeVito and the late Nick Massi all having differing accounts of key events in the group’s history.
This is cleverly overcome by more than one version of events being played out at the same time and with some of the onstage arguments showing that everything was not always plain sailing. The story is truly gripping with the music playing a key role. To see the band struggle as they are forced to sing backing vocals to their manager’s (Bob Crewe) artists before a hastily put together arrangement of Sherry was sung down the telephone to kick-start what was to become a super-group.
The exit of Frankie’s wife Mary Delgado, the death of his daughter Francine and the exit of band member Nick Massi, are all recreated with maximum emotion using minimalist set design. Having seen the show, it’s no surprise that Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons were, and still are, as popular as they are. Listen out for the BBC trailer for the World Cup, featuring you guessed it, the Four Seasons track Beggin’.
A superb show with a truly talented cast. If you’re not a Four Seasons fan when you go in, you are by the time you leave.
Visit BurtonMail.co.uk to read the full fantastic review.
