Book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice
Music by Bob Gaudio
Lyrics by Bob Crewe
Directed by Des MacAnuff
August Wilson Theatre /245 West 52nd Street / (212) 239-6200
Reviewed
by David Spencer
It seems a shame to tar Jersey Boys with the name of "jukebox
show," because it unfairly compares this thoroughly winning evening with
ersatz musicals that failed precisely because they were ersatz; and also,
frankly, because its stunning success at what it does will encourage more
bullshit attempts to create shows around existing catalogs of pop music.
Like Jersey
Boys, some of
these jukeboxy things have been and-then-s/he/they/I-wrote/sang compilations
that follow a career, but what distinguishes this look at "the story of
Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons" can be summed up in several things you can't fake,
or brew up:
(1)
Authenticity. In flavor, characterization and tone, the book by Marshall
Brickman and Rick
Elice captures
the patois and the 'tude of its heroes and their background; and later, the
feel of the pop music world. This isn't just "show biz bio"; this is
a look at the creative process as it affects the gestation and development of a
group, as surely as Sunday in the Park With George is a meticulous musicalization of
pointilistic philosophy. Maybe it's so accurate a backstage portrait because
its writers and director are themselves such backstage creatures; since they'd
recognize false notes, none are permitted to sound.
(2) Structure.
Again, the book: The authors have split the story itself into four seasons -- Spring,
Summer, Fall, Winter -- and each section of the first person narrative is
handed off to another member of the group. to continue the story from his
perspective. The perspective is never enough to derail the story or confuse
rooting interest, but just enough to shed new light on the developing tale, by
focusing on a different angle. As we move from street tough pioneer Tommy De
Vito (Chritian
Hoff) to
determined but soft-spoken new-sound songwriter Bob Gaudio (Daniel Reichard) to "forgotten man" Nick
Massi (J.
Robert Spencer)
to, ultimately, Frankie Valli himself (John Lloyd Young), we go on a real journey, in which
the songs are not just historical place markers, but really reflective of
time-era--events in a forward-moving way.
(3) The
songs themselves As much as Bacharach and the Beatles, The Four Seasons helped
define and shape the pop music of their era, with a sound that continued to
grow and pioneer, a blend of music and lyrics in which one seemed inextricably
an outgrowth of the other, that worked not just as popular music but as the
primal reflection of a generation's emotions.
We pause
at element (3) because other "jukebox" shows have certainly had access
to "the songs that shaped a nation," as it were, or defined a
generation; look at last season's All Shook Up, fashioned around Presley songs,
or this season's Lennon. Why should Jersey Boys be so much the exception? For the
answer to that we go to:
(4) The
creative team. Right people, right material, right gestalt, right time. This is no mercenary
songbook show, it's a labor of real, palpable passion; and if the lives of the
group onstage are rendered so full-bloodedly as to make us believe we're watching
the real boys play out their story, it's only because the authors and director Des
McAnuff (talk
about a comeback!) are fired with the same roaring spirit, and channeling like
crazy. And this spreads to the "secondary" creative team, including
designers, choreographer, musical director, etc.
Finally
we come to
(5) The
cast. Their selection and their brilliance is a function of all the other
factors working in tandem. Each one of the four guys mentioned and described
above nails his
character's layered humanity, paradoxically with deft, bold strokes -- and of
course their musicality, and ability to reproduce the Four Seasons sound, is
beyond reproach.
In short
Jersey Boys is
not a jukebox show. It's a magical show, about a magical sound, in a magical
time. It transcends label, genre, box category of any kind. Just as Gypsy defines the backstage mother
musical so thoroughly that none would dare even broach the subject again, Jersey
Boys should,
similarly, be the defining song catalog show. Nothing like it ever need be done
again, because nothing will ever again do it so well. Be not fooled, you
pretenders, the mold has been broken. It's a job for professionals. Don't try
this at home.
My
issuing that advisory won't stop anybody of course. It may even be more for you
than for them.
Once you’Äôve been
to the well of greatness, life's too short for pale imitation ...