Highly Recommend
Seeing “Jersey Boys” is about having a great time watching a “jukebox” musical.
“Jersey Boys” must be the hardest working cast on stage in Chicago. This nearly three-hour production, now at the Mercury Theater, is a physical workout for the four primary characters. They perform over 30 musical numbers while walking us through the life and times of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons.
The Four Seasons were a Jersey-based rock and roll quartet that appealed nationwide to largely blue collar teens in the 1960s with songs like “Sherry” and “Walk Like A Man.”
Lead singer Frankie Valli with his distinctive falsetto transitioned successfully to the top of the pop charts as a single with “My Eyes Adored You” and “Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You” composed by his creative partner Bob Gaudio.
In this Chicago based production, the group’s founder, Tommy DiVito (Adrian Aguilar), starts the narration explaining the tumultuous beginnings of a few street-smart kids with a foggy vision of an exciting future. Tommy says their options were, “the military, the mob or music.”
As the story goes, Tommy became aware of a kid in the neighborhood, with “a voice like an angel.” It was Frankie Castelluccio or Frankie Valli (Michael Metcalf) as he came to be known.
With the help of another neighborhood friend, Joe Pesci (Grant Alexander Brown) – Yes the same guy who went on to become a famous actor – – they were introduced to Bob Gaudio (Andrew MacHaughton) a local musician and songwriter who had a recent hit with “Who Wears Short Shorts?”
The three struggled to find their sound. Ultimately, another old friend, Nick Massi (Jason Michael Evans), joined them and in a moment of inspiration they restructured themselves as the “Four Seasons.” Not inspired by Vivaldi but rather by the name of a bowling alley in New Jersey.
The final character in the puzzle is their record producer and lyricist Bob Crewe (Adam Fane) portrayed here with a good amount of humor as an over-the-top gay man with a great ear for music.
A theme running through the story is the group’s association with local mobster Gyp DeCarlo (Carl Herzog) and the fact that the boys can’t quite shake their Jersey roots.
This manifests as Tommy’s desire for largely undeserved respect, and a quest to find short cuts or easy money that he evidently felt was what led to the stature and apparent success of figures like Gyp.
The other side of the “Italian Jersey code” was a sense of honor which Valli took very seriously and is behind his arguably over developed sense of loyalty and an admirable adherence to his word.
Aguilar’s performance as Tommy carries the first act with his charming tough-guy persona. Grant Alexander Brown as Pesci and Adam Fane as Crewe interject much of the comic relief throughout the production.
MacHaughton as Gaudio lets his presence be known with an outstanding strong delivery of his first number, “Cry for Me,” and later on in “Oh What a Night.”
The weight of the production, of course, falls on the shoulders of Michael Metcalf as Frankie Valli who does an outstanding job on every level.
We see the character transition from a naïve young man to a global superstar with his own demons and life challenges. Valli’s well known falsetto is not easy, if not nearly impossible, to duplicate, but Metcalf manages it admirably.
The entire support ensemble does yeomen’s work keeping the high energy, fast-paced storyline going. Kudos specifically to Eric A. Lewis who plays Barry Belson and others who belts out a few high notes of his own.
One of the highlights of this production is the terrific orchestra led by Linda Medonia (keyboards) with Justin Kono (percussion), Jonathan Golko (bass), Samuel Shacker (guitar), Cara Strauss (reeds), and Greg Strauss (trumpet).
Jersey Boys seems as much like a great concert as it is a play with a substantial and interesting book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice.
Whether you are coming to this as a nostalgic experience or you’re new to the music of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons you will be in for an entertaining event suitable for all ages (PG-17 for language).
Details: Jersey Boys at the Mercury Theater, 3745 N. Southport Avenue, Chicago, IL, through May 19, 2024. Running time is about 3 hours with a 15-minute intermission. For tickets and information visit mercurytheaterchicago.com or call (773) 360-7365.\
Reno Lovison
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