Oh, what a night indeed! The cast of musical sensation Jersey Boys came to the Wales Millennium Centre this week and filled the stage with Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons’ greatest hits in the Olivier Award-winning, original Broadway sensation.
Each section of the show followed the Four Seasons, with each band member narrating a season of their lives alongside the story of their musical journey.
Michael Pickering returned to the role of high-note hitting Frankie Valli and wowed the audience as he blasted through scales over four octaves in ‘Big Girls Don’t Cry’ and ‘Walk Like a Man’. The harmonies from Christopher Short as Nick Massey, Blair Gibson as Bob Gaudio and Dalton Wood as iconic bad-boy Tommy DeVito were top-class.
The four leads’ energy was electric as they came together for the first time with breakthrough hit ‘Sherry’, after Gaudio joined the group following a string of bad behaviour left Tommy, Nick and young Frankie in trouble with the law.
The brash accents and language of the characters made you feel as though you were walking the streets of Jersey with the boys, following their journey into the music studios of LA and even onto the stage of American Bandstand.
With great staging throughout, the impressive use of lights and camera meant there was always action to enjoy, and the live drummer on stage really brought the music to life as we followed the band’s journey.
Bob Gaudio’s sexual awakening was a moment that had the crowd in stitches, with cuts from his narration to the ever-relevant lyrics of ‘December, 1963’ and crude comments from Tommy and Nick leaving the audience in fits of laughter.
As the story turned darker, you hear of Tommy’s gambling problem leaving the group in a million pound hole, the death of Frankie’s daughter Francine, and the group disbanding. Frankie went solo with the support of Bob, releasing hits such as ‘Beggin’’ and ‘Can’t Take My Eyes Off You’. As the story twists and turns, the audience’s emotions went from high to low, just as Frankie’s life seemed to go.
The showstopper came when the group reunited in 1990 for their introduction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, belting out ‘Rag Doll’ before each member reveals their fate. Tommy remained in Vegas and worked for Joe Pesci, Nick returned to New Jersey with family before he died in 2000, Bob retired to Tennessee, and Frankie is continuing to tour to this day. The group reunited under the famous street lamp to sing ‘Who Loves You’ as the crowd rose to their feet and danced along, giving a massive standing ovation and whoops echoed around the Centre as the Four Seasons took their final bow.
As I worked my way back to Jersey Boys for the third time, it really is one you don’t want to miss.
Tickets are still on sale so get there fast to grab a last minute seat in an unmissable show: https://www.wmc.org.uk/en/whats-on/2023/jersey-boys
