The lights dimmed and the theater was packed, the kind of packed where you have to elbow-fight your neighbor over who gets the armrest.
A hush came over the audience.
Boom: High energy hit the stage, right from the opening scene.
Flashing lights of retro reds, purples, oranges and blues; glitter, varsity coats and bouffant hair and curls: It didn’t take long for the audience to figure out that we were spending the next few hours in the heart of New Jersey.
Hot rods, cigarette smoke and neon lights.
Italian? Yous guys better prepare for the pizza jokes, Catholic digs, and Italian phrases that your mom would probably say under her breath.
Every actor and actress that made it to center stage was both witty and wildly attractive — not a greased hair out of place.
Tall, dark and handsome — well, not the tall part in Frankie Valli's (Aaron De Jesus) instance .
De Jesus, yes, from Jesus, and his voice is of the angels. His brilliant musical numbers sent a heavy dose of chills across the crowd throughout the entire performance.
But when I think of Jersey, I picture Tommy DeVito: the tough guy, the rowdy one, the one ladies flock to. Trouble. Tommy DeVito, played by Matthew Dailey, added both constant, intelligent humor and necessary love-hate conflict between the other characters.
Nick Massi (Keith Hines) had fewer lines, but when he spoke, it was both dexterous and intentional. When he held the floor, there were mini atomic bombs of laughter.
The last (but not least) member of the ‘Four Seasons’ was Bob Gaudio (Drew Seeley). He added a certain dynamic that was untouched by the other three characters. He was smart. He was corky. He was a virgin — but with a voice so sinfully good. Out of the four characters, his journey of character development was the longest.
Brilliant soliloquies brought depth, laughter and insight to the audience. The viewers felt participatory, like each character’s best friend; we, the audience, became the safe place, where characters could vent.
The characters held the attention of the audience through every single stage whisper and musical peak; from the start, the audience understood the specific voice that of each of the four main characters.
As the characters further developed, they pulled at the audience's heart strings as the action onstage cycled through love, laughter and loss.
Klara Zieglerova, the scenic designer, inventively manipulated the scene changes, designing a minimalistic set with key props and thoughtful composition. The scenes effortlessly alternated between a backdrop silhouette of the city and industrial life to inside a 1950s recording studio with vintage microphones and instruments.
Costume designer Jess Goldstein added a balance of tasteful sass and class with the showcase of long floral dresses, pastel prints, sparkle embroidered suits, patterned slacks and sweaters that looked like they had been stolen from a local bowling squad. Each iconic piece of clothing gracefully carried the eye of the audience through time-specific eras.
Popular doo wop songs and swing melodies were characters in themselves. The ‘Four Seasons’ flawlessly covered big hits in a familiar, original way. The classic hits struck a chord with all generations, teasing memories and perking imagination.
I melted like a 1950’s female groupie under the spell of such sassy ladies and slick men; Jersey Boys was beyond entertaining to say the least.
Warning: you may exit the theater inspired to dance your way out – make sure you stretch and prepare accordingly.
This article appears in Jun 2-8, 2016.