December 9, 2007

East Meet West in Jersey Heaven!

December 9th, 2007

By Cathi Aradi, Jersey Boys Blog Special Correspondent

A great meeting of the minds (and hearts) of Jersey Boys’ fans took place in San Francisco on Saturday 12/8. The stars were in alignment as Irene and Buz Eisen flew in to catch the new production at the Curran.

JB Blog fans Irene and Buz from Philly, Angel and her mom Mila from Orange County, Linda, Lauren, Linda L., Lauren’s sister Arlene, and Mama Lucy met for lunch at the lovely Grand Cafe, just up the street from the theater. Miss Linda couldn’t stay because SHE was catching a plane to San Diego to see John Lloyd Young perform in the tribute to Des McAnuff at the La Jolla Playhouse. (Lucky Linda!)

After a great lunch, we all trooped down to the Curran to watch what has to be the best performance of this cast in its short two and half week run. Rick Faugno (Frankie Valli) got his first “panties” from the audience during the curtain call. (We’re wondering if he’s going to frame them!) Jeff Leibow’s Nick Massi garnered applause several times during his second act appearances. Andrew Rannells is tearing it up as Bob Gaudio, and Bryan McElroy is definitely “imprinting” his own style on Tommy DeVito. Jonathan Hadley is very classy as Bob Crewe, and the delightful surprise to Jersey Boys regulars is John Salvatore. His antics as Billy Dixon during “Trance” are HILARIOUS! Kudos to to Joyce Chittick, Julia Krohn, and Natalie Bradshaw as the Joisey Girls. They are very strong. Joyce Chittick’s portrayal of Mary Delgado is made more poignant by her offstage relationship with Rick Faugno. (They’re an adorable couple!)

After the show, the cast was happy to pose for pictures with the “out-of-towners,” and Buz, Irene, Angel, and Mila gave the show their stamp of approval! It was awesome to have them in San Francisco, and we all can’t wait to meet again in Vegas!

8 Comments »

  1. Hi Everyone!

    It looks like and definitely sounds like you had a blast in San Francisco before, during & after JB’s at the Curran!
    Thanks for sharing these great memories…

    All the Best!
    Cynthia

    Comment by NewJerseyLasagna — December 9, 2007 @ 9:11 pm

  2. Thank you, Cathi, Susie and Dale for the article and the pictures. It was a wonderful day and another testimony to the “ubiquitousness???” and kindness of the JB family.

    The beauty of San Francisco is exemplified by the heartwarming reception we received from Jersey Boys fans and cast.

    I will always remember this weekend. It was FANtastic. IE

    Comment by irene eizen — December 10, 2007 @ 1:22 am

  3. I was blessed to receive a phone call from this dynamic group at lunch yesterday, and was privileged to banter with Mama Lucy for the very first time. Our usher Angel (the name fits) kept our group’s volume to a low roar during a great performance. The only negative news I received from Mama was that the aisles are quite narrow at the Curran, so before I make reservations, I need to change my liquid diet from beer to Slim Fast! Sounds like you all had a wonderful time. Safe travels home.

    Comment by Howard Tucker — December 10, 2007 @ 1:28 am

  4. It was definitely a BLAST meeting MamaLucy, ( funny how she looks sooo young and her monicker is MamaLucy), LindaL, Tiggerbelle, Lauren and of course Irene and Buz ( BTW, I have just been converted to a Buz fan witnessing how patient and supportive he was throughout the entire time while the girls are busy chatting about JB etc)…hopefully I didn’t miss anyone. Angel and I enjoyed the quality time we had together and wishes we can have another one of those in the near future….maybe in Vegas ? ? ? Maybe next time, we will also be graced with the presence of our other JB family like Howard, Gary, Leanna and the rest of our “clan”. That would be sooooo fun !

    Comment by Mila — December 10, 2007 @ 1:18 pm

  5. It’s so nice to see everyone, you had a fantastic weekend, how wonderful for all of you..Hi Angel, so nice to finally see you :) LOL Take care, safe travels…Jody

    Comment by Jody Cardillo — December 10, 2007 @ 2:38 pm

  6. Howard, we know you were there in spirit!! We so wanted to share the moment with you. Great article Cathi and just terrific photos. This cast is a keeper. All performed so well. Again, so wonderful to meet up with the fans from the Blog. Let’s do it again!! Oh, we are, on Saturday with Susie & Dale!! Yeah!!

    Comment by LindaL — December 10, 2007 @ 3:33 pm

  7. Where is stage door at Curran? How long is the wait before any cast members emerge? Thanks.

    Comment by SFJBfan — December 11, 2007 @ 7:03 pm

  8. The Curran stage door is to the right of the theatre if you look at it straight on (like from Starbucks). It’s in an alleyway between the theatre and a now-closed clothing store called Couture.

    Go straight there after leaving the show — the first batch of actors are out pretty fast.

    Comment by Leanna — December 12, 2007 @ 12:49 am

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