March 19, 2008

More Reviews of West End Jersey Boys!

March 19th, 2008

Here’s the latest from UK critics:

From the Evening Standard: After those sagging lines of hagio-graphic tribute musicals to old rock’n’ rollers and bland bands, what a refreshing change to meet up with this Broadway triumph…Molloy exercises an arresting, powerhouse of a voice, that ascends from tenor to falsetto in emotional bounds and scores with Fallen Angel, sung for Frankie’s dead daughter, his back to the audience. It is Frankie, too, who vainly fights to keep the group together, while Philip Bulcock’s ironically charismatic yet peripheral group member charts the reasons for the group’s break-up with laconic flippancy.

From the Daily Mall: There are two remarkable things about Jersey Boys, the Frankie Valli bio-musical which had a splashy opening last night. The first is the fluting voice of Ryan Molloy who plays 1960s pop canary Valli and sings like a man possessed.

Check out Reuters for a summary of the London reviews.

3 Comments »

  1. In my opinion, yes JB will succeed in London. Overall, though, good reviews. As for some negativity from a couple of critics, I had already expected that especially coming from some of the British press. The most important thing though is what the audience thinks and from what I’ve been reading through readers comments, they’ve given Jersey Boys a lot of praise. Not to mention, from the Daily Express, the audience gave a standing ovation last night.

    Comment by Ann — March 19, 2008 @ 1:37 pm

  2. The London press are tough on everything including Jersey Boys. Hard to predict this one??? Frankie’s boys are adorable. That guy is a class act!

    Comment by Gayle Kamen-Weinstein — March 20, 2008 @ 2:55 pm

  3. I agree they are tough on everything and are pretty notorious, especially on anything ‘American’. In some ways there’s a little bias. I remembered reading one article mentioning that Jersey Boys is too American for a British audience. But I hope the British audiences can see beyond that. It’s a wonderful story of the Four Season’s rise to fame, their rough times and struggles, and how they faced their challenges and succeeded through the years. Something that many musical groups and rock bands should take note of! Jersey Boys has a great combination: great story, great themes, and great music! It’s too bad that these critics are too blind to see it that way!

    Comment by Ann — March 20, 2008 @ 6:48 pm

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