Jersey Boys Is Capitivating In Chicago!
April 12th, 2012Another fantastic JB national tour review from Chicago. Here’s a preview of Hedy Weiss’s review in the Chicago Sun-Times:
For as it happens, the latest touring company editions that opened Wednesday night at Chicago’s Bank of America Theatre might just be the best production of this irresistible musical to date.The four leading men featured here might very well be the strongest and most engaging group ever assembled, with an ideally defined chemistry (though “volatility†might be a better word to describe their characters’ interplay).
With his truly heaven-sent voice (and his falsetto is only part of it) and deeply soulful acting, Joseph Leo Bwarie gives us a Valli who visibly evolves from naive Italian-American mama’s boy to confident man with an unswerving loyalty to his musical “family.†You really can’t take your eyes off him at any moment.
Preston Truman Boyd, as Gaudio — the adolescent genius (not from the neighborhood) whose songs made the group’s fortune — brings just the right mix of cockiness and determination to counter Valli’s sweetness. John Gardiner is spot-on as the innately thuggish Tommy DeVito, the guy who started the group, recognized Valli’s talent, dealt with “business†and plunged the group into deep debt with the mob. And Michael Lomenda is just quirky and unpredicatable enough as Nick Massi, Valli’s early coach, who at one point just has enough.
Visit Chicago-Sun Times to read the full review.
