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Tearaways who strike a chord
Jersey Boys
New Alexandra Theatre
***** YOU don’t get shows much slicker than
this unless you spray them with WD40, it just glides from scene to
scene, song to song and drama to drama. Too many bio-musicals are little more than
tribute act concerts with a back story of struggling act becomes famous
and that’s about it, with much of the popularity stemming from nostalgia
for the music that made the act famous in the first place. Jersey Boys is different, the story of a blue
collar band from Belleville, New Jersey which eventually, after changing
names with the same regularity people change shirts, became Frankie
Valli and The Four Seasons. Not only were they from the wrong side of
the tracks, they actually have a backstory beyond local boys make good. For a start how many bands had prison records for
breaking and entering, jewellery store robberies and the like, and had
associations with mob bosses, in this case Angelo Gyp DeCarlo, of
the New York Genovese crime family, the man running loan sharking in New
Jersey – and incidentally, a man linked to that other son of Hoboken,
New Jersey, Francis Albert Sinatra. They owed half a million in taxes and band
founder Tommy DeVito left the band when they bought out his $162,000
debt to a loan shark. The group are also different in that many of the
songs by the last member to join the group, Bob Gaudio, are universally
well known, probably more so than Valli and the Four Seasons who were
never as big in the UK as the USA. In fact Valli, now more than 60 years in the
business and who started as Frankie Castelliccio, only had seven top 10
hits in the UK charts in more than 40 years of singles and The result is a story that could form the basis
of a half decent gangster movie but instead we have a musical with songs
that have become standards such as Walk Like a Man, Bye, Bye, Baby
(Baby Goodbye), Big Girls Don’t Cry, Rag Doll, Working My Way back to
You and the beautiful song that almost never made it, Can’t Take
My Eyes of You. Four
Seasons with a sharp cut image and a checkered past:
Tim Driesen has a fine falsetto voice creating a
believable Valli while Stephen Webb is a tough Tommy, who sees
everything as under his control, even band members, and you feel is only
one word out of place from becoming dangerous. Lewis Griffiths is bass player, and bass voiced
Nick Massi, who is the quiet one, always threatening to quit and start
his own band when things are not running smoothly, and who finally
explodes when the full extent of Tommy’s debts and financial negligence
comes to light. He quits the Four Seasons at the height of its
success, not to start his own band but because . . . he just wants to go
home. The most talented musician of the group was Bob
Gaudio, keyboard player and, most important, skilled songwriter, played
by Sam Ferriday, who sees in Valli, with his unusual voice, a solo
artist with a backing band, his eventual role. Support comes in the shape of a hard working
ensemble playing every other role from Gyp, played by Sean Kingsley, to
Joe Pesci, the young gofer and numbers runner, played by Damian Buhagiar,
and yes it is that Joe Pesci. While Amelia Adams-Pearce plays Valli’s first
wife Mary Delgado, Leanne Garretty who plays Lorraine, Valli’s
girlfriend after his marriage brekas up and Sinead Long, who plays
Francine, Valli’s ill fated daughter. A talented cast, great music and a good story,
what more can you ask. Director Des McAnuff keeps the show moving at a
cracking pace, helped by Klara Zieglerova’s flexible set which involves
everything from a huge video screen to a prison gantry and scene changes
as fast as actors walking on and off. Musical director Gareth Weedon’s 10 piece band
provides a full sound to complement Gaudio’s music to produce a lively
musical drama steeped in nostalgia. The Alex has long shunned traditional panto in
favour of West End shows for the festive period and this one has already
proved a big hit with audiences, 94 per cent sold already for what has
become the hottest ticket in town. Buy now to avoid disappointment. To 04-01-15 Roger Clarke
10-12-14 Oh,
what
a night! *****
This touring smash hit show about the rise and rise of Frankie Valli and
the Four Seasons is a pre-Christmas cracker. There are no holds barred in
the story of four lads from the wrong side of the track who created
their own unique sound and went on to sell 175 million records
worldwide. Good to see the theatre
bursting at the seams with fans of the music, and one pensioner headed
for home after the final curtain beaming: “That made me feel 40 years
younger”. After a fairly slow start
during which the excellent Stephen Webb, playing the tough, driving
Tommy DeVito, acts as a kind of compere to stitch the tale together, the
action accelerates with hit after glorious hit . . . Can’t Take My
Eyes Off You, Walk Like a Man, Sherry, Big Girls Don’t Cry, Bye Bye
Baby, and Oh What a Night – it certainly was. And what a performance from
Tim Driesen as FrankieValli. His falsetto voice was perfect for the
role, while his acting was very impressive too. Also outstanding were Sam
Ferriday as Bob Gaudio, the more serious member of the group and
composer of many of the hit songs, and Lewis Griffiths (Nick Massi). The pulsating show reveals
love, problems of debts, occasional despair and even tragedy as the
smartly-suited group make their way from no-hopers to international
stars, and the ladies in the cast provide a most enjoyable helping of
glamour. Great support, too, from
musical director Gareth Weedon and his excellent band.To 04.01.14
Paul Marston
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only one No 1 and that not until 1975 with December, 1963 (Oh, What a
Night), which opens the show in a 2000 French rap version.