By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic (“Steppin’ Out”)
Le Petit Theatre du Vieux Carré has removed any doubt about whether it could creatively pull off the first local production of Jersey Boys.
In fact, the talented directing team of artistic director A. J. Allegra and choreographer and co-director Jauné Buisson have produced a very satisfying local production that could be compared favorably to any of the Jersey Boys national tours seen here through the years.
With Buisson’s deft touch at choreography and Allegra’s experienced hand at management and an eye for detail, the two constitute a formidable force; they have put out a hit with these Jersey Boys.
The fast-paced action that tells the highly personal story of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons is told with the music of Bob Gaudio and Bob Crewe, the hitmakers who produced chart topping numbers like “Sherry,” “Rag Doll,” “C’mon Marianne” and “Big Girls Don’t Cry.”
But truth be told, while the songs are the hook that engage the audience at every performance, it’s the book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice that effectively delivers their improbable, yet true story. The mean streets of New Jersey were the backdrop for the original quartet of singers, who spent time in the slammer for a slew of crimes including robbery and breaking and entering.
The leader-manager of the group is Tommy DeVito (Jake Wynne-Wilson), a streetwise punk whose biggest talent is he can spot talent. He organizes the group in between stints in prison and discovers Francesco Castellucchio, an up-and-coming singer with an amazing falsetto. That kid turns out to be the group’s eventual lead singer, Frankie Valli (Sebastian Rohn), and together with Nick Massi (Brian Sanford) and songwriter Bob Gaudio (Bryce Slocumb), they take the music world by storm.
Rohn has played the role of Frankie Valli before and it shows. From the moment he solos with “A Sunday Kind of Love” to when he fronts a big band singing the giant hit “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You,” he demands the rapt attention of the audience. He is a polished professional singer who emulates Valli’s falsetto blending with the quartet and is also masterful in executing the lead vocals. But he is not a mimic; he makes the role his own while paying homage to the original.
Record producer Bob Crewe (Scott Sauber) comes across as largely flamboyant and a closeted individual. “I remember thinking there was something off with this guy,” Gaudio tells the audience. “This was 1959; people thought Liberace was just theatrical.”
In real life Crewe provided key backing vocals and had standing in the recording industry that propelled the Four Seasons into the spotlight, but it was Gaudio’s catchy songs which really sealed the deal. While Tommy DeVito comes across as a bit of a thug and an egomaniac in his role as leader of the Four Seasons, Valli and Gaudio make their own side deal outside of the group’s earnings for the music performance and publishing rights. That’s where the big money turns out to be.
Slocumb is generally much more likable as the group’s muse and certainly more responsible than DeVito, who is an inveterate gambler and womanizer. But, after all, he’s a macho male from New Jersey and a precursor to what the more recent generation of TV’s “Jersey Shore” referred to as a “Guido,” a term that is alternately embraced by some and seen as offensive to other Italian-Americans.
The group’s rise to the top of the charts – even after the arrival of the British invasion – and their ability to withstand challenges in their family lives while working on the road and acting responsible is at the heart of the second act. Hit songs like “Let’s Hang On (To What We’ve Got),” “Beggin'” and “Bye Bye Baby” are used to dramatic effect and Brickman and Elice’s book does not pull punches. Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons were successful recording and concert artists, but ultimately the original quartet had to yield to the realities of life and the consequences of their own vices.
While the focus is mostly on the Jersey boys, there are also some wonderful Jersey girls in the show. The talented Stephanie Abry, Monique Knoefler, Melissa McKenzie and Josie Oliva play roles like The Royal Teens, The Angels and other girlfriends, wives and daughters of the group’s members.
Keith Claverie, Frank Von Hoven and Daniel Rigamer notably play a number of ensemble roles and smaller parts to great effect.
“Fallen Angel,” a song written by Guy Fletcher and Doug Flett and covered by Frankie Valli as a solo artist, is used for dramatic effect as a succession of figures move along the massive elevated set on Le Petit’s stage late in Act II.
Jefferson Turner serves the work as both the music director and the conductor of the nine-piece group of musicians, who reside underneath that stage. Their musicianship is superb and fully satisfying, seamlessly supporting the singers above them.
Michael Kramer’s scenic design is quite extraordinary and aided with magnificent projections by James Lanius III. Costumes by Kathleen Van Horn are also very well rendered and supported by Laurin Hart’s makeup, wig and hair designs.
As a show that features lots of dance moves and full bellowed sound, the lighting design by Camille Griffith and Earl Lennie and sound design by David Rigamer are most effective in enhancing Buisson’s brilliant choreography.
Jersey Boys continues at Le Petit Theatre du Vieux Carré, 616 St. Peter Street, in New Orleans through April 6. For tickets click here or call 504-522-2081.
