Jersey Boys Blog

It doesn’t get much better than this: Jersey Boys’ Opening Night and the After Party! Yes, Jersey Boys Blog had the most amazing opportunity to attend Opening Night at the Ahmanson Theatre on Sunday, June 3!

Okay, picture this: Jet-setting to LA on a Saturday afternoon from Vegas, then seeing JB on Saturday night (Hey! We couldn’t just see it once while we were in LA, right?). It may have been a rather cool evening in LA (maybe 55 degrees, which is freezing for a desert rat like myself), but the show and the cast were RED HOT! The well-dressed audience was looking like they were out for a nice evening as they found their seats. Listening to their conversations was especially interesting. Everything from “I heard this show is really good” to “I’ve always liked the 4 Seasons’ music, didn’t you?” All that nice smalltalk. The audience consisted of tons of baby boomers and plenty of 20-and 30-somethings as well. Forget the “out for a nice evening” crowd! By the time “Ces Soirees la’” was finished and “Silhouettes” began–the audience went NUTS! It’s no exaggeration when reviewers say people can’t sit still in their seats! By intermission, I heard more than once, “This is the best show I’ve EVER seen!” At the finale, the audience was on their feet with one of the most adoring standing ovations I’ve ever seen!

After this incredible show, it was great to meet up with friends Charles Alexander (who wrote the liner notes for Jersey Boys Original Cast Recording) and Howard Tucker (Jersey Boys Blog Special Correspondent)!

Sunday: Sunday morning/early afternoon consisted of a lovely two-mile fast walk around downtown LA; a quick trip to Macy’s (the Tech Half forgot his belt, so we had to make sure he looked chic for the big show, right?) and a quick trip to the hotel’s gym (for a brief workout). Then, of course one of us had to spend 2.5 hours getting ready for our debut Opening Night.

Our hotel (The Omni) had lovely afternoon refreshments for guests, so Charles Alexander met us for some marvelous pre-show mingling! Hey, he’s been to these things before, so as novices, we had lots to ask him! Then, the hotel’s driver cordially drove us to the Ahmanson. I’m sure Charles and the Tech Half were ready to throw me out of the car–All I kept saying was, “OMG, I can’t believe we’re here at Opening Night!”

It was a beautiful sunny day with so many hip looking celebrity types in their sunglasses mingling by the Ahmanson box office as we entered the theatre complex. OMG, it was Bob Crewe! Yes, the co-song-writing/producing genius behind the Four Seasons! Charles quickly made a point to introduce me and the Tech Half to the genius. Mr. Crewe was a delight! Hey, I spent my childhood (and still to this day) in amazement of the genius of Bob Crewe!

Then, Charles introduced us to another musical genius, Robby Robinson, Frankie Valli’s musical director and arranger for well over 25 years. I’ve lost track as to how many times I’ve seen Robby Robinson do his magic on the stage with Frankie! It was awesome to speak with Robby and his wife throughout this incredible evening!

Charles then introduced us to Peter Bennett, the Four Seasons’ attorney. Turns out that Peter reads this blog and keeps up on all of the JB news on a regular basis! It was a pleasure to chat with Peter before the show and at the After Party!

We get to our terrific seats–we see so many stars! Bob Crewe, Frankie Valli, Tommy DeVito, Melina Kanakaredes, and Kirk Douglas–just to name a few. The cast was ON FIRE! The critics have raved about the energy and electricity of Opening Night–so I’ll just mention a few of my most favorite moments:

• The audience’s insane cheers and applause after “Sherry,” “Big Girls Don’t Cry,” and “Walk Like A Man”!
• Various cast members having to pause before they began their next lines due to the audience’s thunderous applause.
• Christopher Kale Jones’ emotion, his superb vocals, and the astounding choreography as he performed “Beggin’”!
• The real Bob Crewe leading a standing ovation after the astounding performance of “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You.”
• Frankie Valli, Tommy DeVito, Bob Crewe, and Joe Pesci joining the cast at curtain call!

The After Party was held at the City Cathedral courtyard. Talk about amazing! Along with seeing so many celebrities and Jersey Boys’ creative team members, including Frankie Avalon, Sergio Trujillo, Des McAnuff, Kate Burton, and so many others, we had the opportunity to meet so many incredible people! We had a chance to chat with the legendary Frankie Valli, Tommy DeVito and his family, Rick Elice, JB Orchestrator Steve Orich and his wife Judy, Kenny Nolan (co-writer of “My Eyes Adored You”), Robby Robinson, and of course many of the cast members! The entire Jersey Boys cast was incredibly welcoming! Everyone kept telling us, “We read the blog every day!” Even Erich Bergen’s Dad told us that he checks in on the blog to see what his kid is doing!

We would like to say special thanks to Gordon Kelly, Dodger Theatricals Marketing Manager for this incredible Opening Night invitation and the cast and creative team for such a spectacular show and for supporting the blog!