Jersey Boys Was ‘Alarming’ in Boston Last Saturday Night!
January 11th, 2011
The Boston Herald notes that the cast of “Jersey Boys,’’ the musical that’s shattering Boston box office records, took to the parquet at the TD Garden last night to belt out the national anthem before the Celtics game.
The touring company, which has never returned to a city except for Boston, has been embraced by theatergoers who can’t get enough of the story — and music — of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons.
“Boston is the first city we’ve ever gone back to and we love it,’’ said Joseph Leo Bwarie, the Emerson College grad who channels Frankie and his falsetto six shows a week. “We’ve had the highest box office sales in the history of the Colonial Theatre. And (the theater) is 110 years old!’’
Bwarie said Boston is so taken with the Tony Award-winning musical that during a show last Saturday night, the fire alarm went off during Act 2 and the audience barely skipped a beat.
“The enthusiasm was hot, smokin’ hot,’’ laughed Joe. “During a tender moment of the show . . . we all had to be evacuated from the building. So there were these lovely ladies in their 70s coming down the fire escapes in their sequins and jewels to the back alley of the Colonial.â€
The cast and audience cooled their heels outdoors until they got the signal that it was OK to go back inside, whereupon a good 90 percent of the audience returned to see the end of the show!
“So we went back and finished,’’ he said. “But while we were waiting in the wings and everyone was being seated, the entire audience sang, ‘Can’t Take My Eyes Off You.’ Can you imagine? It was incredible.’’
