Jersey Boys Blog

We’re excited to present JBB Special Correspondent Lauren Avila’s review of Jersey Boys in Sacramento!

“…And the whole world exploded!” Well at least all of Sacramento, who seemed to have all showed up at the Opening Night of Jersey Boys. September 9th marked the beginning of Sacramento’s Broadway Season. What better way to begin than with this smash hit musical?! The National Tour of Jersey Boys played to a sold out performance in Sacramento’s Convention Center and had the crowd completely enthralled.

This audience was very responsive to the show and its incredible cast. From the first beats of “Ces Soiree-La” to the thunderous standing ovation at curtain call, Jersey Boys has surely captured the hearts of Sacramento, CA.

Fresh from Los Angeles, the “Sherry” cast has returned to northern California with a few changes. The biggest change is being without a “lift.” Eric Gutman refers to the new gadgets as “rabbits” in his Tour This blog. Their purpose is to bring the props such as Bob’s keyboard, the microphones, the bar, etc. to center stage. They’re very impressive and hardly noticeable, which in this case is a very good thing.

The “Four Seasons” were great, as well as the entire cast. Deven May’s “Tommy Devito” really grabbed attention with this particular audience. Deven received a lot of laughs with his character but also proved to be dramatic very well. Erich Bergen as “Bob Gaudio” played the role with flawless vocals and terrific acting. There was an immediate liking to Erich from the crowd. Every joke and every song resulted in great praise for him.

Steve Gouveia’s “Nick Massi” had the hearts of the audience instantly. All of Steve’s jokes were hits like Deven’s and Erich’s, but it was his vulnerability that was the major success of this part of the show. It seemed that the audience also really enjoyed his bass solos. Christopher Kale Jones as “Frankie Valli” stunned this multitude of people. It was especially obvious when he finished his “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” and one would believe all of California could hear the applause!

There was cheering for “Sherry” and an overwhelming appreciation after “Walk Like A Man.” All three of the unforgettable numbers were intensely gratifying to the packed house. As a witness to all of this, it was crazy! Everyone went wild at curtain call for all of the cast members. Reprising “Oh, What A Night” was a lot fun in such an atmosphere. One would think they were in attendance for the opening on Broadway two years ago. The least to be said is that yet again, Jersey Boys is a major success!

From a personal perspective, I was happy to meet some of the cast members at the stage door. Anyone who has met the “Sherry” cast must already know how kind they are. I was able to talk a little bit with Taylor Sternberg, Eric Gutman, Deven May, Erich Bergen, Jackie Seidan, and Christopher Kale Jones. All of them were so adorable and are doing well.

It was a pleasure to meet them! An unexpected but amazing surprise was when Steve Gouveia exited the stage door with SF/Chicago Company star, Jenny Lee Ramos! Any Jersey Boys’ fan would have been excited to see a cast member coming to support another. The two were so cute to pose for the Blog! Thanks to the “Sherry” cast and Jenny Lee Ramos for a wonderful night! And of course, an immense thank you to Jersey Boys Blog for everything!

Thank you to Lauren Avila for her amazing coverage of the Sacramento opening of Jersey Boys!