MY JERSEY BOYS VERDICT: BOLD, BRILLIANT AND THEATER’S ULTIMATE, EXCITING AND EMOTIONAL ROLLER COASTER RIDE
It goes without saying that the music and lyrics are phenomenal. They’ve all been million-selling chart-buster hits for Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons and they’ve all majestically come back to life from their 60’s heydays!
Jersey Boys is the compelling story and the dramatic behind-the-scenes nightmares of troubled stardom, broken marriages, a daughter’s tragic drug death, inter-group feuding, outrageous gambling and IRS problems that are exposed raw, bare and ugly that shock and surprise. However, gems shine through showing the unfathomable strengths of friendship and loyalty that strangely belonged on the rough cheap-hoodlum New Jersey streets of the Vietnam War era.
The power performances by Rick Faugno (Frankie Valli), Erich Bergen (Bob Gaudio) Jeremy Kushnier (Tommy DeVito) and Jeff Leibow (Nick Massi) as the original Four Seasosn are tight, polished and flawless. As Valli himself said on opening night : “This may be the best and most talented cast ever assembled.” Close your eyes and you’ll swear Frankie is actually singing those hits and not Rick!
The production, which is brilliantly staged with genius execution, rockets along at jet-smooth speed and one moment you’re laughing and the next tears well-up. It’s amazing to watch the audience affected by the exciting emotional roller coaster ride; they actually wince audibly when the group discovers that Tommy has put them in hock for a $1 million debt to not only the Mob, but also the IRS! And the standing ovation of cheers and thunderous applause at the finale, before the curtain comes down, is wonderfully loud, sincere and enthusiastic; maybe the noisiest ever heard in a Vegas theater since Elvis! No wonder Jersey Boys is still one of the top five grossing box-office record success stories on Broadway, where it first opened in November 2005. It won Best Musical Tony Award and the Grammy Award for Best Musical Show Album! No wonder there are stories of people seeing it a second time within 24 hours and returning as many as six times in a year to devour it again and again!
This isn’t just about nostalgia for the sweet sounds of love and passion in the 60’s—where did those yesterdays go? It’s about faith, belief and persistence, the struggle to win, and the guts to go from rags to riches. This cast also brings new life to the old memorable melodic hits of “Walk Like A Man,” “Sherry,” “Big Girls Don’t Cry” and “Oh What a Night,” the audience was still singing them out loud as we walked from the beautiful Palazzo Theater.
Click here for our Luxe Life coverage of the show’s gala-opening night at The Palazzo and our exclusive interview with Four Season’s producer and songwriter Bob Gaudio, If one show is to save Vegas from the reputation of burying Broadway hits in favor of the super Ciirque du Soleil spectaculars this (and the still record-setting Mamma Mia! at Mandalay Bay) is the one. Ticket sales are so solid that signs are up for sold out performances already and everybody’s predicting it’s a wonderful winner, so go see it as fast as you can. It gets my totally unconditional Vegas DeLuxe seal of approval. Now “Run like a man” to the box-office!