The Muny’s ‘Jersey Boys’ Ends

Season 107 on a High Note

                                           by Pat Lindsey

For every Muny season, there is always an outstanding closing show. This year it’s the jukebox musical ‘Jersey Boys.’ The Tony and Grammy Award-winning “Jersey Boys” enjoyed a 12-year run on Broadway and won 57 awards worldwide. I’ve seen it five other times, but this one will be my gold standard. The Muny’s personal stamp is all over it and the sets, ensembles, and choreography are superb. Director Maggie Burrows and her creative team have given this ‘Jersey Boys’ a big jolt of exciting color while the audience is being pulled into the lives of four main characters.

The story chronologically tracks one of the most famous American pop music sensations of all time, the Four Seasons. It begins with four young guys from the New Jersey housing projects hanging out under a streetlamp and ends with them being inducted into the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame. The group wrote, recorded, and performed their own songs and sold more than 175 million records before the singers were 30 years old. Their music was a big part of my teenage playlist in the ‘60s and has had lasting appeal for generations ever since. Songs like “Big Girls Don’t Cry,” “Sherry,” “Walk Like a Man,” and “Rag Doll” topped the charts. The group’s history was a roller coaster ride of infidelity, mob connections, rap sheets, gambling debts, heartache, enormous success, and tremendous loss, as is evident in some of their song titles.

At some point during the show, each member of the group takes a turn speaking directly to the audience to claim he was the reason for the group’s success. Tommy DeVito (Ryan Vasquez) unabashedly brags, “It all began with me,” and “(Who Wears) Short Shorts” Bob Gaudio (Andrew Poston) says he knew they were a big hit “when my parents stopped talking about trade school.” Nick Massi (Cory Jeacoma) provides comic relief when he describes what touring was like with uncouth Tommy (Vasquez) as a roommate for ten years. Together, they are the Four Seasons, a name Frankie Valli (Pablo David Laucerica) spied on a bowling alley. Also integral to the group is mobster Gyp DeCarlo (John Leone), who served as the unofficial consigliere to the young singers. Each one is a terrific actor and singer–a star in his own rite.

The Four Seasons had a unique sound because of Frankie’s incredible range and falsetto voice. Pablo David Laucerica masterfully becomes Frankie Valli in this show. He’s short in stature, but his voice is huge. The other three voices blend beautifully with his, but each could stand alone. Ryan Vasquez gives an excellent performance of “Earth Angel” with the full company. The cast is so believable that it makes the audience feel as though it were back in the ‘60s and ‘70s and “Working My Way Back to You.”

Much of what makes this production sensational must be kept a surprise. Music Director Paul Byssainthe Jr. has succeeded in recreating the ‘60s–the era of American Bandstand and Ed Sullivan–with an orchestra that sounds better than a record ever could. The choreography by William Carlos Angulo is a wonderful, unexpected treat. Everything else that goes onto that stage from video design to lighting is more Muny magic.

The stars are aligned for a genuinely unique Jersey Boys experience this week at The Muny. “Oh, What a Night” it will be for you before you say “Bye Bye Baby” to The Muny’s 107th Season and prepare for the long wait until Season 108. (Next season’s shows will be announced on Dec. 1.)

‘Jersey Boys’ will be playing on The Muny stage in Forest Park nightly at 8:15 p.m. now through Aug. 24. For more information, call The Muny at 314-534-1111 or go to muny.org. (Munypening Night

production photos included)

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