Yvonne Paterson reviews the latest tour of the musical retelling the story behind Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons.
Riding high and onto the stage at Edinburgh Playhouse is Jersey Boys, a jukebox musical like no other. Telling the true story (ok, a version of four true stories) of how four ordinary guys from New Jersey made their way to musical stardom.
Jersey Boys is not just a story that has been shoehorned around some well-known big numbers. The clever use of the annual four seasons as a timeline helps move the story along and reflects the band's journey and career: each band member has their own season in which they have their time to narrate and address the audience, giving their version of the unfolding story. The musical numbers, such as ‘Big Girls Don’t Cry’, ‘Walk Like a Man’, ‘My Eyes Adored You’ and ‘Fallen Angel’ (to name but a few) are woven into the narrative, blending the story and music together perfectly. Although the musical numbers are timeless classics, they feel fresh and new—you can’t help but get drawn in by them.
The cast are truly fantastic. Dalton Wood is wonderful as Tommy Devito, capturing his cheeky side, and Blair Gibson is charming and charismatic as Bob Gaudio. Christopher Short has brilliant comedic timing as Nick Massi, and Ryan Heenan gives an excellent performance as Frankie Valli, hitting those off-the-scale falsetto notes effortlessly. Together, all four are outstanding: their voices blend in a way that at some points throughout the production is goosebump-inducing.
The supporting cast, including Jordan James (Gyp Decarlo and others), Emma Crossley (Mary Delgado and others), Matthew Lawrence (Norm Waxman and others), Victoria McCabe (Francine and others) and Ellie Seaton (Lorraine and others) are equally engaging. Michael Levi’s Wit is a delight and makes a brilliant Bob Crewe (and others).
Sergio Trujillo’s choreography is brilliant, capturing the 60’s classic dance and the ‘then’ type moves, yet it feels fresh and fun! The set's scaffolding type structure is simple but effective, utilised in so many ways, and is complimented by Howell Binkley’s lighting design - which at some points shows just how blinding the bright lights of fame and success can be!
The only drawback to the production is that the script sometimes doesn’t fully explore emotional moments that occur to the four, including devastating news which Franki Valli receives in the second act.
Even so, Jersey Boys is a fantastic, clever production with a truly talented cast that will have you ‘Beggin’ for more. This is a production that’s not to be missed.
Jersey Boys performs at the Edinburgh Playhouse until February 4th. It then continues to tour the UK.
RSS