Jersey Boys Blog

Kathy Bartsche, an amazing Jersey Boys fan (who has contributed many photographs and Youtubes to JBB) recently emailed me to share her Jersey Boys nesting dolls art project! After my initial response of, “Wow! You did that???” I asked Kathy to share the photos and her inspiration behind this wonderful art project with everyone!

By Kathy Bartsche

Aside from being a HUGE Jersey Boys Fan(atic), I am by day, an art teacher in an elementary school in Marlboro Township, Monmouth County, NJ and have been for 23 years. I really do have other interests, besides Jersey Boys, but when I was planning on painting a set of blank wooden nesting dolls as an example for a second grade project, I needed an idea that would maintain my interest throughout the process, so I chose the Jersey Boys theme.

I was interested in seeing Jersey Boys since I first read about it on Playbill.com in the summer of 2005. My friend, Laura, won tickets to a preview of the show at the BC/EFA Flea Market that September and we first saw it October 12, 2005 (Joe Piscopo and some of his actor friends were sitting right in front of us). I don’t think either of us said a word during the show, and at intermission we were still speechless. After the show we really wanted to meet the cast of this wonderful show, but it was pouring rain that night, so we just went home. We got the chance to meet them November 7, 2005, the day after the show opened. We had tickets for another show, that I won’t mention, and walked out during its intermission. We decided to go over to the Jersey Boys theater, why?, I don’t really remember, but we were able to walk right into (sneak into) the theater with the ticket holders, out for a smoke. There were some vacant seats in the back (remember this was November 2005) and I grabbed some Playbills, and we sat down. After the show, we met the amazing cast, took photos, got autographs and became “hooked.” I have taken family and friends on the Jersey Boys journey and have seen the Broadway version of Jersey Boys 20 and one half times!!!

My interest in the Jersey Boys hasn’t stopped with the show. I have seen MANY of the cast members’ cabaret shows, gone to discussions that they have participated in, purchased all of their personal CDs, etc., etc. I know that along with so many other Jersey Boys fans, I feel I am lucky to have been a part of a very unique Broadway experience. Not only is this show addictive, but the Broadway cast is so endearing; you want to see them perform over and over again!

The Jersey Boys nesting dolls are an example for an activity that is one in a series of multicultural projects that I do with all my classes, grades 1-5. I always show real nesting dolls as an example and a few years ago I bought two sets of blanks, always planning on painting one myself to show them how they were decorated. This year I finally decided to do it!! I started with two other themes but just didn’t quite “get into” either one of them, then I started painting the largest one with the Jersey Boys Playbill cover and realized this was what I really wanted to paint.

Of course, the first four after the largest doll had to be the 4 Seasons and I tried to choose a “moment” to paint for each of the four characters. It wasn’t easy painting on the curved surfaces of the dolls, especially the smaller ones, and I finally had to paint, wearing my husband’s reading glasses, with a toothpick on the “Bob Gaudio/Daniel” doll and the two smallest ones! The curves end to change the way they look but I am really happy with the way they turned out. They were fun to paint and it only took me two days to complete them. I always tell my students that if they can find an idea or theme that they really care about, it makes the artwork much easier to complete. I guess I proved that with this project!

When I showed my second grade classes my Jersey Boys example, I was amazed that a few of the students actually knew about the show, remember they are only 7 or 8! Two students told me that they play the CD and sing to it, when they play together. They started singing “Sherry” to prove it to me and the rest of the class. The parents of one of the girls had seen the show, played the CD, and the two friends really like it so now they listen to it. Of course, most of them didn’t know about this particular show, but when I told them that it was a Broadway musical, this opened up our discussion to other themes for their own nesting dolls rather than the typical “2nd grade” responses. Many of them had seen some Broadway show, so they chose that as their theme. We also discussed other forms of entertainment, musicians, artists, etc., which lead to a much larger variety of ideas than I’ve had in past years. So, to sum it all up, my “interest” in Jersey Boys has given one of my “older” projects a “fresh” new look.