Oh, What a Night! Can’t Take My Eyes Off  “Jersey Boys”

The Duluth Playhouse Launches 110th Season at Historic NorShor Theatre DD ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT THEATRE REVIEW by Sheryl Jensen, Destination Duluth Arts & Entertainment Editor With their own unique blend of intricate harmonies, the Four Seasons had a distinctive sound, led by their lead singer, Frankie Valli, with his incredibly high falsetto voice. The musical Jersey Boys, now onstage at the NorShor, chronicles the story of their musical journey and the highs and lows of the group’s members’ personal lives, including crime, prison time, broken marriages, and financial disaster. Filled with high-energy vocal numbers from the Four Seasons catalog, the music also helped tell the story. By serving as a soundtrack for this jukebox musical and integrating lyrics and titles that often connected with the lives of the band members, the songs had even more textural significance throughout the show. Song after song brought waves of recognition from the audience, including “Big Girls Don’t Cry,” “Walk Like a Man,” “Working My Way Back To You,” and many more favorites. Their “encore” song “Who Loves You,” bringing in the whole company, left the raucous and cheering audience on their feet and wanting more. Starting with when the original four singers were gritty, hard-knock street kids and ending when they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, each of the quartet members had their chance to directly address the audience to tell their perspectives on the story and to reveal their character’s innermost thoughts. Eric Elefson, who portrayed Tommy DeVito, the man who put the group together in 1960 and discovered Frankie Valli, has all the requisite smarminess of his wheeler-dealer, unscrupulous, conman character, with just a touch of vulnerability. As one of the villains of the piece, Elefson still made the audience care about his character, even as he eventually was responsible for breaking the group apart.

While early on Ole Dack lacked some of the low-range solo bass notes of the original Nick Massi, but he got stronger as the show went on in his important quartet vocals. Dack successfully delivered a lot of the comedy in the relationships, and he was always convincing as the “sad sack” who really never wanted the fame and fortune and just “wanted to go home.” When Bob Gaudio became part of the group, his songwriting talents were the kickstart to the group’s rise to fame, starting with their first big hit, “Sherry.” From the moment Jace LeGarde hit the stage playing Gaudio, he too was the lightning bolt the show needed. Always charismatic, charming, and funny in the role, LeGarde has a killer solo voice and, like the real-life Gaudio, decidedly helped to establish the distinctive Four Seasons sound. [Click here to read the Destination Duluth Artist Profile on Jace LeGarde]

As in real life, it was Frank Valli’s voice, stage presence, and audience appeal that rocked the music world and had them evolve into “Frank Valli and the Four Seasons.” New York actor Connor Bailey is truly a star who commanded the stage and embodied the troubled soul of the group’s lead singer as Valli became an international superstar with his one-of-a-kind voice. Whether with the quartet or singing solos, Bailey was appropriately the heart and soul of the show. Two of his breathtaking standout vocal moments were “My Eyes Adored You,” and the undeniable audience favorite, “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You.”

The four performers had obviously worked hard on recreating that unmistakable Four Seasons sound, and they were, overall, fabulously successful, with only a few moments where the harmonies were slightly less tight. A strong ensemble played a multitude of roles, many with the stereotypical New Jersey accents and bravado. Jesse Davis, Chris Nollet, and Alyson Enderle were among the ensemble standouts. Music Director Amanda Weis had her 10-piece orchestra rocking and rolling all night long. As the group got more successful, the show’s orchestrations became appropriately bigger and more complex, eventually adding the richness of a horns’ “section” that the group had always wanted. Playhouse Costume Designer Peg Ferguson is a marvel whose costumes brilliantly reflect the time period and, for the quartet, became flashier and more bespangled as the show went on. The costume changes for the four men were seamless and mostly done onstage in progress. Other impressive technical work included Curtis Phillips’s multi-leveled industrial playground of a set; Nick Gosen’s crisp sound design; Carrie Powers Greer’s spot-on properties; and Jon Brophy’s magnificent lighting design. Director and choreographer Wes Drummond masterfully tackled this challenging show, always keeping his company true to the music, style, and ambiance of the piece. His choreography is on point, recreating the iconic period dance moves of both the quartet and the ensemble. Drummond kept the pace moving, especially in Act Two, and for the few in the audience who didn’t know the music or the story of the Four Seasons well, or even at all, created a cohesive and wildly entertaining piece of theater. The Playhouse, starting its 110th season, made a strong choice opening with this Tony, Grammy, and Olivier Award-winning musical which had an 11-year run on Broadway, and has been successful on tours and with community and international productions. Amazingly, Frankie Valli, at age 90, is still touring with his “Last Encores” show. One stop, in a few weeks, is at Mystic Lake Casino in Prior Lake, Minnesota. Bob Gaudio, who no longer performs, is the only other surviving member of the original group. NOTE: This review is based on the Thursday, September 19 performance. Information for “Jersey Boys” Book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice Music by Bob Gaudio. Lyrics by Bob Crewe “Jersey Boys” continues through September 29 at the NorShor Theatre. For information and tickets, visit duluthplayhouse.org or call 218.733.7555. “Jersey Boys” may be inappropriate for children ages 12 and under for its strong language and adult content. For the Destination Duluth profile of “Jersey Boys “cast member Jace LeGarde, click here. Next up for the Duluth Playhouse is Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Cinderella” December 6-22, 2024. ______ About Sheryl Jensen – Arts & Entertainment Editor A retired educator with the Duluth Public Schools, Sheryl Jensen has been a theater director of over 60 school and community productions. Her production of William Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew at East High School won the National High School Theater award from the BRAVO television network. Having written theater, music, dance, and opera reviews for the Duluth News Tribune for many years, she now is the Arts & Entertainment Editor for Destination Duluth.