Theatre

Jersey Boys London Review

Jersey Boys
Prince Edward Theatre, London

www.jerseyboyslondon.com

Reviewed by Dorothy White

Recently I saw an exceptional show on the London Stage!  Jersey Boys at the Prince Edward Theatre in London’s West End.  The show was wonderful, the music fabulous and the actors fantastic!!!!  A truly excellent show!

Jersey Boys is the story of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons.  To quote the programme “Jersey Boys has been created out of real life to tell the story of four ordinary men who became an extraordinary pop group!” 

It tells the story of their rise to fame, together with the ups and downs of their off stage lives.  Members of the group going to jail, being involved with gangsters, getting into debt and more…..!  Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons came from working class Italian-American families living in New Jersey, some of whom had connections with the mob.  They were tough, they had to be!

Frankie Valli was born Francis Stephen Castelluccio, his future wife insisted it must be Valli with an ‘I’ and not with a ‘Y’ when he decided to change his name!  Tommy DeVito made Frankie part of his group, members went in and out of jail.  The name of the group kept changing.  Eventually Frankie Valli, Tommy DeVito and Nick Massi added a whizz kid singer/songwriter Bob Gaudio to their group and Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons were born!!  

They struggled to win fame and recognition, to get an agent, nobody would take them on.  Frankie had a fantastic falsetto voice but still they struggled!  Eventuallythey made it and had their first hits around 1962/1963. They became a huge pop phenomenon, going on to sell over 175 million records worldwide!

On the London stage the actors performed in a range of identical dapper suits.  Their movements were rigid, angular and very regulated, always perfectly in time.  They sang one hit after another!   'Big Girls Don't Cry',  'Oh, What a Night',  'Bye Bye Baby (Baby Goodbye)', 'Sherry', ‘Walk Like a Man’ and many more, too numerous to mention!  In between the numbers the story was told as remembered by Frankie, Bob, Tommy or Nick.

There was never a moment to be bored!  At various times throughout the show clips were shown of the real group on a large screen above the stage. The resemblance was incredible!  Amazingly the actors looked, moved and sounded like Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons!!! 

The stage set was very simple and was adapted to become a jail, a street, a court room, a night club or recording studio as necessary.  The actors themselves expertly whisked tables, chairs and other props on and off stage.  Microphones appeared as if by magic from the floor when the boys performed, cars and lamp posts were lowered from above, it was all done very slickly!

The theatre was packed, young and old alike ~ so many Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons fans!  Okay, I admit there were probably more there in the older age bracket than teenagers!!

There was a standing ovation at the end of the show!  Almost the whole of the audience were on their feet!!

I knew virtually nothing about Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons before going to see Jersey Boys!  It was an amazing show which I can thoroughly recommend!!  I can’t honestly imagine anyone not enjoying it!!!! 

We left singing ‘Oh what a night!’ to ourselves!!!

For more information or to book tickets visit www.jerseyboyslondon.com

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