Record-Breaking Heat with a Red Hot Jersey Boys Vegas Cast!
April 11th, 2011(Photo Credits: Nancy Dela Cruz, Linda Soo Hoo, Krystal Thomsen, JBB Tech Half)
Was it the near record-breaking temperatures in Vegas on Friday April 1st that “heated the audience right up” at the JERSEY BOYS Theatre?
Even though it was a warm night on The Strip, the temperatures couldn’t compare to the RED HOT JERSEY BOYS Las Vegas performance last Friday night! Absolutely magical performances that took this audience on a 40-year ride with all the bumps and struggles of the early days, the chart-topping hits, the women, the booze, the mobsters, the eventual breakup of the band, and the triumphant return of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons!
The audience immediately connected to Deven May’s bad boy dashing charm as Tommy DeVito when he told them, “You wanna begin at the beginning…” Deven was the perfect guy in charge–running the group, making the deals, and doing things his way–until the scene in Gyp’s basement.
When Tommy introduced the kid who sings like an angel, I swear, the ladies in the audience swooned when Travis Cloer began singing as the young teenager in the nightclub! Travis’ “Moody’s Mood for Love” was one of the most Wow! renditions of that song on the planet! Throughout the evening, Travis’ vocals soared as he sang hit after hit, including the show-stopping “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You”! As “Working My Way Back To You” (the song that “put the group back on the charts”) came to a close, Travis had to stop his line, “Summers in Jersey…” due to the audience’s amazing nonstop applause!
Peter Saide’s towering, handsome appearance as young songwriter Bob Gaudio was the “last piece of the puzzle” that worked! Peter’s vocals on “Cry For Me” with the group coming together, making their incredible sound for that first time brought cheers and woots from the crowd.
As Nick, Jeff Leibow was at the top of his game–with his idiosyncrasies (I love his constant sleeve pulling!) and the expressions on his face without saying a word! He had the audience in stitches with his repeat line about starting his “own group” and of course, “the fu**ing Andrew Sisters” line! At the sit-down scene, Jeff startled the audience when he finally let it all out about “TEN YEARS” with Tommy!
The audience was totally into the JB humor! So many belly laughs, including Donnie and Stosh’s gun scene in the car; the moment Bob Crewe (John Salvatore) strutted on the stage; and Mary Delgado’s (Merissa Haddad) lines in the pizza scene and her “Gimmee that, A**HOLE!” in the house, right before the “Sherry” scene.
Turns out, last weekend marked the three-year anniversary of when the JB Vegas previews began at The Palazzo! Krystal Thomsen suggested to JB Fans on Facebook that we needed to make this anniversary into a party and we did just that!
Kudos to the entire JERSEY BOYS Vegas cast for a magnificent performance and for being so gracious after the show!
