Right from the start, let's be clear: I am of the generation "Jersey Boys" is aimed at. KXOK poured out the music from all those male quartets, and at the time, it was hard to differentiate between the Four Seasons, the group whose story the musical is based on, and many others. Falsetto singers weren't hard to come by – but Frankie Valli, the Four Seasons' lead and eventual solo artist, came to be preeminent.
This was the background music to many lives. And coming to St. Louis as it does just a couple of weeks after the excellent Beatles tribute on CBS, "Jersey Boys" shows another part of that pivotal point in American music, one the old style and another the new. Each influenced the other, no question about it, but it's pleasant to ruminate upon.
Happily, "Jersey Boys" is way more than just an arbitrary story made by patching together the lyrics of [INSERT NAME OF ANY GROUP HERE], unlike some other shows. None of the guys involved would have considered themselves artists in the proper sense of the word when they began, but artistic temperaments seemed to have existed, and when that's crossed with young (and less young) male testosterone and Italian neighborhood loyalties out of their childhoods, it's naive not to expect waters being roiled. (It's also naive not to expect language to match, and signs taped to the Fox's front doors warn about that.) A couple of stereotypes – a gay producer, a mobster or two – but basically an interesting story, although it's condensed and apparently eliminates a number of personnel over the years.
The voices sound great, and remind us how much fun this music must have been to sing, at least the first hundred times or so. Hayden Milanes, playing Frankie Valli, nails the falsetto parts without breaking a sweat. (Matinees and February 27, the part will be played by Shaun Taylor-Corbett.) Bob Gaudio, who not only sang with the group but wrote many of the hits, and who had preceeded joining them by writing the novelty song "Who Wears Short Shorts?" at age 15, is Quinn Vanantwerp, another particularly watchable performance. And speaking of the music, pay attention to how the music evolves, both in terms of harmony and setting, going from simple to elaborate.
Offstage, credit has to go to Marshall Brickman, whose first Broadway book this is – but a guy whose credits include writing or co-writing lots of movies like Annie Hall and Manhattan and being head writer for Johnny Carson and Dick Cavett. Also kudos to director Des MacAnuff and the La Jolla Playhouse, a fabulous regional theater who originally developed this show. Hard to imagine the neighborhoods of La Jolla and Jersey coming together in such a felicitous manner.
Lots of folks having a great time. Better for depression than Elavil.
Jersey Boys
through March 2
Fox Theatre