Oh, What a Triumphant Night in San Francisco!
December 11th, 2006Pat Craig of the Contra Costa Times describes Jersey Boys opening night as a heartwarming triumph:
The standing ovation that followed the San Francisco opening night of the groundbreaking musical, “Jersey Boys†Sunday was spontaneous, heartfelt and well-deserved.
It was immediately apparent this ovation was worlds different from the usual obligatory standing O’s that follow most big-ticket shows. Those usually reflect more a self-congratulatory mood from an audience trying to assure itself that spending and arm and a leg for a good seat had been a cagey investment.
This time, though, the outpouring didn’t start anywhere near the wallet — it emerged from the hairs on the back of your neck standing on end, and tears pricking at the corners of your eyes. What the audience had just seen was an astounding musical comedy; a true story of Shakespearean proportion that made poetry of the blue collar American Dream.
And then, just as you thought you had the tears under control, the real guys came out on stage — the princes from the lands of Jersey and York, now white-haired, mostly — fells whose amazing story had just unfolded on the stage in front of us. There were the remaining Four Seasons, Frankie Valli, Bob Gaudio and Tommy DeVito, and Bob Crewe, a musical production genius who helped create the Four Seasons’ sound, and co-wrote (often with Gaudio) many of the Seasons’ hits.
Check out ContraCostaTimes.com for the full review.
