The Thousand Oaks production of Jersey Boys took the audience back to the last period of American pop music that was completely joyous. The musical story of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons was delivered in an energetic 2 ½ production that showed the highs, lows, infidelities, triumphs, lives, deaths and loyalties of the four artists who delivered their style of street corner symphonic doo wops to millions of listeners through various fads of pop, disco and The British Invasion. The music and vision of the band is held together by not only the brilliance of the individual artists, but by the trust and long lasting friendship of two of the band members, keeping their faith intact by a simple handshake that stood through years of trials.
Told through the actual four seasons of the band’s life, as well as through the observances of the artists themselves, the tough as nails and sometimes profane delivery by the ambitious megalomaniac Tommy deVito, the brilliant Bob Gaudio, the reflective Nick Massi and the heart on sleeve Valli. Through songs and vignettes that take the story through the days of R&B to pop sensations, connections with the underground and personal domestic tragedies, the show pulls in two directions. One is summarized by Massi as he states “See how YOU handle selling 100 million records” and the other by Valli himself as he looks back on the best years of his life when he first created the unique vocal sound which started the whole roller coaster.
The white knuckle show includes foot stomping takes of hits like “Sherry,” “Walk Like A Man,” “Rag Doll” and a silky delivery of “Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You.” But the fact is, you can get these songs off of Amazon. You’ll want to see the show to understand, like in the kitchen of a Chinese restaurant, all of the ingredients that are thrown together to create such a feast.
The show runs from Feb 23-28.
Next show coming up in Thousand Oaks by Theater League is Ragtime March 24-27