THE Four Seasons rock band was formed in 1960 when two members of the novelty act The Four Lovers, singer Frankie Valli and guitarist Tommy DeVito, were joined by bass player Nick Massi and composer and keyboard player Bob Gaudio. With changing personal, but always with the strong high falsetto voice of Frankie Valli as lead vocalist, they went on to sell around 100 million records worldwide.
With such a string of successes flowing from them, Cherry, Walk Like a Man, Big Girls Don’t Cry, December 1963 (Oh what a night) and Rag Doll, plus dates at all the top venues including performances on the legendary Ed Sullivan TV show, those four original members must have had a whale of a time.
But not according to Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice’s book for this jukebox musical, which includes all or parts of more than 30 numbers. They spent most of their time bickering, trying to patch up very obvious holes in their personal relationships, and raising money to keep Tommy DeVito out of the hands of loan sharks and the taxman.
As a friend of mine remarked as the curtain came down on Act 1, “a wonderful set of songs, sung and choreographed superbly [by Luke Baker (Valli), Carlo Boumouglbay (DeVito) Lewis Kennedy (Massi) and Toby Miles (Gaudio)] – but didn’t they live miserable lives”. This quartet, dressed perfectly in period style by costume designer Jess Goldstein, given excellent musical backing by MD Lauren Ronan and the band, had absorbed every lesson given by director Des McNuff and choreographer Sergio Trujillo, to reproduce the sights and sounds of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons so realistically you could be excused for believing that you were listening to pre-recorded vocals.
The story of those early years is indeed full of dramatic moments. Frankie Valli’s daughter Francine and step-daughter Celia died within six months of each other while still in their 20s. Tommy DeVito was faced with physical violence until he was bailed out by Valli and Gaudio. As a result, the show is inclined to take itself a little too seriously as it draws to a close, some of the speeches sounding a little too philosophical for four Italian-American, boys born and bred in northern New Jersey.
But just when you think that dialogue has taken over from lyrics and music, up pops Can’t Take My Eyes Off You, Fallen Angel and Who Loves You? to put the production firmly back on the jukebox musical trail where it has top-class material to offer by a company dedicated to ensuring that the cult following Jersey Boys has acquired over the last 20 years went home happy, with quite a few new members added to their number.
As part of an extensive 20th anniversary tour, this show can also be seen in Southampton’s Mayflower Theatre from 23rd to 28th November, and next year at Truro’s Hall for Cornwall from 4th to 8th May, and Plymouth Theatre Royal from 17th to 21st August.
GRP