London
18.08.15 Matinee
My dad and I
do not often get the chance to spend some quality time together but today we
spent the day together. What did we do? Well we had a nice lunch and chatted
about life…and then went to see the Jersey Boys.
The Jersey Boys
is a show based on the life of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. The woman
sitting behind me thought the name of the group was the Jersey Boys and kept
asking who these Four Seasons were! Of course the Jersey Boys refer to where in
the USA they came from.
The show
started with a French rap version of ‘Oh, What a night’. To be honest, although
it had lots of energy, it was a bit lost on the audience and could easily be
cut from the show. The average age of the audience was over 50 and no one knew
about this rap version – plus it was a French hit not a UK hit.
However we
soon get into the show and it starts with a very early Frankie being pulled
onto stage. Michael Watson who plays Frankie not only sounds so much like
Frankie Valli that if you closed your eyes you would think it was him, but is
also the correct height (there are references in the show to how short Frankie
was) – I personally thought that Michael looked a bit like a young Tom Cruise.
He also had a great ‘Jerrrsaay’ accent. But hold on…this is a show about four
guys who formed a group – which had several names before settling on the Four
Seasons. Frankie didn’t want to be a front man. It was a group effort. Bob
Gaudio was played by Edd Post (Bob wrote a lot of the songs). Nick Massi was
played by Gary Watson and the fourth member of the band was Tommy Devito who
was played by Jon Boydon. All four are key in telling the story and work so
well together they seem like they are best friends off stage too!
The show
takes us through the various incarnations of the band and how they got to be
famous. It tries to give us an idea of how rough it was in New Jersey but unless
you lived there that would be quite hard to really grasp. It covers the highs
and lows of the band members…this show is an emotional rollercoaster!
The show is
full of energy and it’s almost every two minutes that there is a song or a set
change – chairs and tables are constantly being put on and off the stage. There
are clever changes of clothes – and you really get to know the characters and
love them.
This show is
not just a huge feel good show – it’s educational. After the first half I had
already heard all the Frankie Valli songs I thought I knew so didn’t know what
the second half would offer. How wrong I was! Bye Bye Baby was a Frankie Valli
song. (Yes I knew it by the Bay City Rollers!) And the biggest shocker was ‘Can’t
take my eyes off of you’ which was my wedding song. I knew Andy Williams had
recorded it and my husband and I knew it better by Boystown gang, but here it
was being so beautifully sung by Michael to the point it actually made me cry.
The audience
for this matinee performance was one of the best I have ever been in. They were
receptive and cheered and clapped so much that at times I thought it might
affect the running time of the show. Every cheer and clap was well deserved.
And it was not lost on the cast, who waited ‘til it died down before
continuing. And the looks on their faces could see they appreciated it. This
also helped make this experience one of the best shows I have ever seen.
This show has
feel good factor with a big F. It is absolutely Fantastic. Fabulous. Fun. …okay
running out of ‘F’s but you get my drift.
I think being
in my 40’s I am below the average age of the audience but this show is suitable
for all ages – and trust me you will have a great time!
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