Aylesbury Waterside Theatre – until 26 November 2022
Reviewed by Julia Spargo
3.5***
It must be very difficult to create a musical from a true story, not least the story of four people who all have very different takes on their collective history, but that is exactly what Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice have done here, to great effect.
Jersey Boys is the story of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons, from their creation to their eventual disintegration, told Rashomon-style by each of the four band members in turn.
Tommy DeVito started a band in the early 1950s with his brother Nick DeVito and friend Nick Massi, known as The Variety Trio. Tommy then discovered a very young Francesco “Frankie” Castelluccio before Joe Pesci, a friend of Tommy’s, introduces the band to singer-songwriter Bob Gaudio, who changes the fortunes of the group by coming up with a series of hits which are featured in this jukebox musical.
The production opens with a performance of “Ces soirées-là” a 2000 French song which sampled “December, 1963 (Oh What a Night)”, the 1976 Four Seasons hit. Tommy DeVito (played by Dalton Wood) arrives on stage and introduces himself. There follows a frenetic ten minutes of narration and movement on stage as the group’s creation and subsequent various guises are rushed through. Tommy DeVito goes in and out of prison, Frankie (Ryan Heenan) changes his name to Valli and meets and marries Mary Delgado (played with spark by Emma Crossley) and the band changes both name and sound without success until Joe Pesci (excellently played by newcomer George Salmon) introduces Bob Gaudio (Blair Gibson) to the group.
This section feels rushed and I struggled to keep up with the story. It could have been condensed and the narration slowed, since a lot was lost with the chaotic movement on stage. I’m also not sure what the first song added to the story, except to show that their songs were still relevant decades later, but the subsequent ninety minutes of hit-after-recognisable-hit does exactly that.
The introduction of the brilliant Blair Gibson as Bob Gaudio, both to the band and as narrator, changes the pace of the musical and allows for more coherent storytelling. Bob guides us through the early years of the group’s struggle for success as they get a contract with producer Bob Crewe (Michael Levi), change their name to The Four Seasons and Bob starts churning out hits such as “Sherry” and “Big Girls Don’t Cry”. An entertaining scene where Bob loses his virginity (offstage) to the backing of “December, 1963 (Oh what a night)” takes us towards the conclusion of the first act, when the band is accosted by a loan shark claiming Tommy owes him $150,000.
The second act, narrated first by Nick Massi (Christopher Short) and subsequently Frankie, takes the audience through the band’s inevitable disintegration as they navigate divorce, a weekend in jail, debt, jealousy, betrayal, mob involvement, Nick leaving the group and the death of Frankie’s daughter from a drug overdose. These dramatic twists and turns make for a very entertaining musical featuring a slew of recognisable hits that visibly lifted the audience right through to the end. I didn’t stop smiling throughout.