The Jersey Boys Phenomenon–According to Rick Elice
June 5th, 2009In a recent interview with Diane Snyder, Rick Elice explains the JERSEY BOYS phenomenon. Here’s a preview of what Rick had to say:
“At that moment the audience has forgotten they’re watching four actors and they root for these four guys as though they really are The Four Seasons in their youth,†says Rick Elice, one of the show’s book writers. “The response is so sincere and enthusiastic and over the top that it’s impossible to believe anything else.â€
It’s also somewhat surprising. After all, The Four Seasons may have been one of the most successful groups of the 1960s, but history hasn’t institutionalized them the way it has the Beatles or other bands popular with that era’s counterculture. But Elice thinks that’s one reason why fans are so hungry for their music and the incredible story of four Italian-American kids from the wrong side of the New Jersey tracks who could just as easily have ended up in prison as on the pop charts.
“In many ways the band was a reflection of the people who were buying their records,†Elice notes. “They didn’t have long hair or accents. There was no glamour quotient to them at all, which is why they were never written about. For fans of the band, the show is an edification of who they are, because the cultural establishment ignored them too. These weren’t the people who went down to Washington and marched against the war; these were the guys who shipped out and went to Vietnam. And the respect that the band is getting all these years later somehow feels like respect for them too.â€
Visit CarolinaNewswire.com to read this entire fantastic interview!
Just when I think Rick has said it all, he finds a few gems for us to uncover and he draw us into the story behind the story…just like he does during the two and half hours of pure entertainment as audience after audience is treated to the story of the Four Seasons onstage. Always a pleasure to learn a little more about this author and this group! Lulu
Comment by LuluThompson — June 6, 2009 @ 12:07 am