Review of Jersey Boys (Broadway in Chicago)

Once upon a time I went to a show and it was called Jersey Boys. The book was by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice. The music was by Bob Gaudio, who was an actual original Four Seasons' member. And then Bob Crewe did the lyrics. It was about The Four Seasons who were big in the Sixties--they were like One Direction. This show is about how they got together and fell apart. It was a sad but funny play because it had some sad moments but it was also pretty funny. It is about friendship, betrayal, and music.

I thought it was cool how each of the band members--Bob Gaudio (Drew Seeley), Frankie Valli (Hayden Milanes), Nick Massi (Keith Hines), and Tommy DeVito (Matthew Dailey)--got to narrate one season of the story. I liked that because then you got to hear every person in the group's perspective. My favorite section, the most exciting part, was when Bob was narrating. I loved how when they turned their back to raise their hands and sing to the invisible audience it was like on the poster and you had that little recognition like, "Ohhhh." I liked when they were singing backup for other singers and they all had this one moment they all had the same idea--to have Bob Crewe (Barry Anderson) finally let them record--and they weren't fighting, but the next scene they were fighting again. Because what are bands for if not for fighting?! I really loved the character of Bob Crewe; I thought he was really funny because he was so overdramatic. He seemed really comfortable around everybody and his notes to the band were hilarious, like when he said, "It's a metaphor for women who twist you around their little finger" and he wiggled around his finger." I think Bob Gaudio seemed liked the least insane and depressed one. I liked how he always looked at the sunny side of things even if things weren't going as well as they'd like them to. They had found him because he had written a song about short shorts when he was a teenager. The show shows his development over time with songwriting because his songs got better and better over time!

Frankie was basically the lead singer. But even though he was the lead singer he was very depressed because a lot of bad things happened to him. Like his wife left him, he was abducted at age 16 by a crook who made him begin a band, and the third bad thing is that his daughter Francine (Leslie Rochette) had a drug overdose and died. I really wish they had had a song together because she had a lovely voice. His voice was also very nice so, if they put those two together. it would be extra good. His voice could go very high in falsetto and the actor playing the role did an amazing job making the falsetto really pleasant to hear. Frankie had two important relationships with women in the show, with Mary (Marlana Dunn) who he married and had kids with and with Lorraine (Jaycie Dotin) who was his girlfriend for a while, but then they broke up for the same reason he and Mary broke up which was because he was on tour too much and they never saw him. Mary was very straightforward and kind of reminded me of my mom, except less nice. Lorraine was an interesting character to me because she was a reporter; she had a job and seemed very smart. I think Frankie should have tried harder to keep both of his women--not by quitting the band, because he was very talented, but by inventing Skype or something so that he could better communicate with them when he was on the road.

I really like Nick Massi's season because he was one of the funnier ones because he was so serious. He was always deadpan about everything. Like one of my favorite parts was when he was just standing there silently while Bob and Frankie were talking and in the middle of the scene he just turned to the audience and said "I just realized something. I don't want to be in the band anymore." That was so funny because it was just in the middle of the scene and you wouldn't think that was what he was going to say, but then he did and it was just hilarious. I also really liked when he was talking to everyone about Tommy and roommating with him for ten years and he said, "He uses up all the towels!" I loved that that was his biggest problem even though Tommy had been a crook and stole a lot of stuff, also while they were roommating.

People who would like this show are people who like deadpan bass players, overdramatic producers, awesome music, and short shorts. I had a lot of fun at this show. It was crazy, awesome, and I enjoyed the story of it a lot.

Photos: Jeremy Daniel