**** Highly Recommended Mercury Theater’s production of Jersey Boys absolutely rocks! The first Chicago produced version of the show is a rock and roll masterpiece! Jersey Boys is the ultimate jukebox musical and the mostly true story of four young men from New Jersey who became rock and roll royalty. Mercury’s smaller space brings the audience closer to the stage giving the production a more intimate feel. I’ve seen Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons in concert several times. The music in this show was spot on! 4 BIG Spotlights.
During the fifties, the music industry wasn’t sure where it was going. Although the vets thought the big bands were great, the younger set thought they were boring. People were experimenting with different sounds – doo wop, rhythm and blues, folk, and rock and roll too.
Tommy DeVito (Adrian Aguilar) was experimenting too. He and his brother, Nick (Dan Gold), and others, sometimes called the Variety Trio, were knocking around New Jersey playing whatever gigs they could get – when they weren’t in jail! Nick Massi (Jason Michael Evans), a vocal arranger, joined the group, Nick DeVito left.
Tommy found a young guy in the neighborhood who had an incredible voice. He persuaded Frankie Castelluccio (Michael Metcalf) (who changed his last name to Valli) to join the Four Lovers. Joe Peschi (Brant Alexander Brown) – yes, that Joe Pesci – introduced them to Bob Gaudio (Andrew MacNaughton), who’d written the hit “Short Shorts” while a member of the Royal Teens. After he joined the group, they had a gig at a bowling alley and the Four Seasons were in business.
Bob Crew (Adam Fane) gave them work as studio musicians and backup singers for a couple of years. Meanwhile, Gaudio and Valli made a handshake agreement that each would own half of the group. When Gaudio wrote a catchy new song about a girl named Sherry, Bob Crew finally agreed to record it. Interestingly enough, Vee-Jay Records, from Gary, was the first label to sign the Four Season.
Your average jukebox musical emphasizes the music - and maybe the star's success - while glossing over unpleasant facts. That is not the case with Jersey Boys - it's all out there. If the powers-that-be in radio had known Tommy and Nick DeVito were in and out of prison in New Jersey, the Four Seasons would never have gotten any air time at all. Ditto for the Ed Sullivan Show or Bandstand. Tommy's gambling problem could have been a major scandal too.
Having grown up in the sixties, I remember the music – in fact, I play it still. I can chart the events of my youth by the Four Seasons hits. If we liked a song, we’d quote the kids on American Bandstand and say, “It has a good beat and you can dance to it.” The Four Seasons’ first hit, Sherry, totally fit the criteria. Incidentally, I had a cousin named Sherry – and since I hated my name and loved hers – Sherry became kind of an anthem for me. I’d just broken up with a boyfriend when Big Girls Don’t Cry came out, and so on. Walk Like a Man, Dawn (Go Away), Rag Doll and Can’t Take My Eyes Off You are all personal favorites.
Aside from Aguilar, Evans, MacNaughton and Metcalf, everyone else in the cast play a primary character and others. The men of the cast are: Joe Pesci (Grant Alexander Brown); Bob Crewe (Adam Fane); Gyp DeCarlo (Carl Herzog); Barry Belson (Eric A. Lewis); Norm Waxman (Jason R-ichards). The women in the cast, Maya McQueen, Haley Jane Schafer and Kayla Shipman, play relatively minor characters – a wife, a girlfriend, a daughter – as well as a girl group and back-up singers.
Musicians include Linda Madonia (Conductor/Keyboard), Justin Kono (Percussion/Associate Conductor), Jonathan Golko (Bass), Samuel Shacker (Guitar), Cara Strauss (Reeds) and Greg Strauss (Trumpet).
Jersey Boys, written by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice with music by Bob Gaudio and lyrics by Bob Crewe, ran from 2005 to 2017 on Broadway. It won the Tony Award for Best Musical in 2006. Mercury’s production is directed by L. Walter Stearns and Brenda Didier, with music direction by Eugene Dizon and Linda Madonia, and choreography by Christopher Chase Carter.
“Jersey Boys” runs through July 28th at the Mercury Theater, 3745 N. Southport, Chicago. Parking is difficult to find in this neighborhood, so I suggest using one of the parking apps. Running time is approximately 2 hours, 30 minutes, with an intermission. Performances are Wednesday through Friday at 7:30 pm, Saturday at 2:30 & 7:30 pm, Sunday at 2:30 pm. Tickets range from $39-$85. FYI www.mercurytheaterchicago.com.