Today in Las Vegas Magazine

The Boys Are Back In Town

If you belong to my age bracket, you might think you have nothing in common with the music of The Four Seasons, but you would be wrong. As I was. Sure, I was aware of “Walk Like A Man” and “Big Girls Don’t Cry” but all throughout the evening of the premiere, I found myself in several “That’s a Four Seasons song???” moments. From the show’s beginning, with “Oh What A Night,” a high-energy, highly stylized version with a French rap star and all the way through to the end of the two-hour show, it was surprise after surprise (at least to me), and for the baby-boomers in the audience, it was a revival like no other. From the squeals and shrieks, you’d think you’ve suddenly been transported back into the sixties, and were watching the real thing. I wouldn’t know, but judging from the audience reaction, it might very well be.

Jersey Boys, if you haven’t figured it out yet, is the story of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons – also known as Frankie Valli, Bob Gaudio, Tommy DeVito and Nick Massi. It debuted on Broadway in November of 2005, to critical acclaim and commercial success, setting the August Wilson Theatre box office records 29 times. To date, it has played to over 2.4 million audience members across the country and has grossed over $240 million in sales nationwide.

Part of its success could be attributed to an award-winning production crew comprising writers Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice; music by Bob Gaudio, lyrics by Bob Crewe, director Des McAnuff and choreographer Sergio Trujillo. But the other half is purely that of the cast’s talent and, of course, the music, the songs and the distinct sound of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons.

The Las Vegas company is led by Erich Bergen (as Bob Gaudio), Rick Faugno (as Frankie Valli), Jeremy Kushnier (as Tommy DeVito) and Jeff Leibow (as Nick Massi). All four are equally talented and while we probably don’t need to mention it here, were going to do so anyway – Rick Faugno as Frankie Valli was fantastic. The voice, the trademark falsetto was absolutely fantastic, it was like listening to a record. The other three also held their own against “Frankie Valli,” though my personal favorite was Erich Bergen, who was playing Bob Gaudio. He had only one solo, “December 1963 (Oh What A Night),” but he injected that song with the right mix of innocence and earnestness, for the first part, and then, shortly thereafter, the cockiness, confidence and swagger of someone who had just turned from boy to man.

Another scene stealer could be attributed to John Salvatore, who played Bob Crewe. He was campy, snide and so gay that he garnered laughs every time he was on stage. The best scenes though was when they were all in unison, as The Four Seasons, just singing their songs, hit after hit, flush with their early success, before the complications and troubles of fame and fortune got in the way. A compelling story, the show moves forward so smoothly, that you will hardly notice that an hour, or two has gone by. The length of the production, in itself, is an ambitious (and very confident move) by Las Vegas standards, long-known for shortening shows to an hour and a half, with no intermissions.

No surprise that after the eight-minute break, everyone went right back in the theater, eager to hear more. And more turned out to be renditions of favorites, “Bye Bye Baby,” “Working My Way Back To You,” “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You,” and the finale number, “Who Loves You.” It’s no use resisting. Go see the show and we predict you’ll be humming their songs in no time.

-Rachel M. Sugay

On our cover, the cast of Jersey Boys, from left: Jeff Leibow, Rick Faugno, Erich Bergen and Jeremy Kushnier.