Comments on: The 4 Seasons–Pop’s Forgotten Men Until Jersey Boys!

By: Ted Hammond

Ted Hammond — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 15:23:29 +0000

You really have to hand it to all the people involved that have made Jersey Boys such a success. But I still think Mr. Gaudio deserves a lot of credit for realizing or at least suspecting that it would be a much greater success with a strong story line and getting Mr. Brickman and Mr. Elice and others on board to do that. Sometimes delegation really works well. I think Mr. Gaudio’s model may represent the future for all such shows.

By: Leanna

Leanna — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 06:21:46 +0000

It was kind of biographical, but if they’d gone the Jersey Boys route (not that that existed yet) and less trying to be artsy, it probably would’ve had more mass appeal.

The cast was fantastic, at any rate…

By: Howard Tucker

Howard Tucker — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 01:59:50 +0000

Leanna, I saw “Lennon” only once several years ago, so my memory isn’t fresh, but “Lennon” only drew from John’s catalog, not the Beatles’. John’s solo hits were far fewer than those of the 4 Seasons. And from what I recall, it was sort of just a group of people sitting around and taking turns singing John’s hits, and not too much else.

As far as “Good Vibrations” and “All Shook Up”, the books were indeed weak, and they were also contrived stories. (Hey, “Mamma Mia” worked, didn’t it?) Had Brickman and Elice had a shot at them, even with made-up plots, things might have turned out differently. Indeed, I saw “All Shook Up” on the road with Susan Anton, whom I had met several times previously via a mutual college friend, and I was embarrassed for her, and said little after the show.

And don’t forget, right out of the gate in La Jolla, “Jersey Boys” had Tony winner Christian Hoff, whose tremendous acting and charisma drew in the crowd from the very beginning of the show.

By: Leanna

Leanna — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 20:46:54 +0000

Lennon didn’t have to be a flop, though. I saw it in SF twice and the audience was excited and receptive, and the show didn’t need that much tinkering. The problem was once it got to Broadway…

By: David Cace

David Cace — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 17:47:53 +0000

I agree 100% with Mr. Hammond. Need I also remind the writer that “Lennon” using Beatles’ music, “All Shook Up” using Elvis’ music, and “Good Vibrations” using Beach Boys’ music, were total flops. Granted all three did not have the strength of the book written by Mr. Brickman and Mr. Elice but the strength of the 4 Seasons’ music, arranged by Mr. Melrose, just blows the audience away. The johnny-come-lately “artsy” and “craftsy” crowd can try and rationalize all they want in a lame attempt to explain the world-wide success of Jersey Boys, but I look at it this way, Mr. Hammond and I, and the rest of the original 4 Seasons crowd who grew up with their music just sit back now and say “what took you guys so long to catch up with us – we were on to something for the past 45 years that you guys missed out on until now.”