JERSEY BOYS reviews — Page 2

Brantley's summary is up...mixed, again somewhat dismissive:
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In a year in which one pop-songbook show after another has thudded and died, "Jersey Boys," a shrink-wrapped musical biography of the pop group the Four Seasons, passes as silver instead of as the chrome-plated jukebox that it is. Unlike the recent Broadway flops, this show has the advantage of featuring singers that actually sound like the singers they are portraying and a technology-enhanced band that approximates the original sound of their music. Scriptwriters Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice provide some likably sassy dialogue as they chart the evolution of their main characters from street kids in the urban wastelands of New Jersey to pop gods enshrined in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. But while "Jersey Boys" is based on fact, it rarely leaps over the clichés of a regulation grit-to-glamour blueprint.
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Hm...exciting, yet surprising...

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Newark Star-Ledger is Positive:

"Love classic rock 'n' roll? Enjoy juicy behind-the-scenes true stories?

Then without a doubt -- and especially for Baby Boomers -- "Jersey Boys" is a hot new Broadway show for you.

Not a jukebox musical stuffed with golden oldies so much as a compelling bio-musical, "Jersey Boys" gets plenty of mileage from can't-get-em-outta-your-head classics like "Big Girls Don't Cry" while legitimately employing the music for dramatic purposes.

Fluently scripted by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice, this classic rags-to-riches story is narrated in turn by each member of the 4 Seasons, beginning with Belleville wise guy Tommy DeVito, who organized the group between his visits to the slammer in the late 1950s.
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Energetically weaving story, songs, visuals and exciting performances into a can't-stop-the-music tidal wave, director Des McAnuff stages a compelling rush of events that pauses only occasionally to savor the beauty of certain songs. Live video is spliced with vintage film of '60s crowds reacting to the band or pop art-style cartoons that comment upon various moments."


http://www.nj.com/entertainment/ledger/index.ssf?/base/entertainment-0/1131343928224870.xml&coll=1

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Here's another positive review from New York Newsday:

http://www.nynewsday.com/features/printedition/ny-ledesing4502260nov07,0,3621937.story?coll=ny-features-print

Overall the reviews so far seem to be as good as the promotors could have hoped for, given they have to overcome reviewers' prejudice against "jukebox musicals".

I'm glad that the East Coast critics gave the show a chance. It is a good show and truly enjoyable. I hope the audiences find it for a nice run on Broadway.

Nearly all the reviews refer to the show as a jukebox musical, which to me, would imply that the songs are integrated into the plot in which the lyrics are part of the story. Is this true? I was under the impression it was more of a catalogue bio-musical along the lines of Buddy.

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Journal News is Positive:

"Don't count the "jukebox musical" out yet: A new one called "Jersey Boys" opened last night at the August Wilson Theatre on Broadway, and it should run for about 20 years. This time the group being celebrated is Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons.

One big thing this show has that others of the genre don't is a director, Des McAnuff, who puts a really stylish gloss on it. McAnuff directed "The Who's Tommy," and Billy Crystal's "700 Sundays" last season.

The other thing it has is John Lloyd Young, a singer with an astounding voice, who effortlessly imitates Valli's signature, a powerful falsetto.

The songs — and you may be amazed to realize how many hits there were, from the early '60s on — are all flawlessly delivered, without sounding canned."
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The book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice is a little long on narration, and you may find your eyes glazing over until the point, two-thirds of the way through the first act, when the boys break into television with an appearance on "American Bandstand." From that point on, though, you snap awake and happily ride the wave.

http://www.thejournalnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051107/LIFESTYLE01/511070313/1031
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The Hollywood Reporter is Mixed:

"This latest example of the burgeoning jukebox musical genre eschews the common method of shoehorning pop songs into a contrived plot. Instead, it relates the rags-to-riches story of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, taking care along the way to provide pitch-perfect versions of their many chart-topping hits.

Unfortunately, the group's story is not particularly interesting, at least compared to those sagas related in such recent musical biopics as "Ray" and "Walk the Line." As depicted in Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice's book, this generic tale of Jersey boys making good, breaking up and making up becomes an accumulation of incidents that don't add up to a particularly interesting tale."

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/reviews/review_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001434696

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Curtainup.com is Positive:

"As seen from the New Jersey Turnpike, the grim industrial skyline has unfortunately served as a negative image for what is more agreeably referred to as The Garden State. But that is the only negative image projected in the vastly entertaining and celebratory new bio musical Jersey Boys, the story of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons. Otherwise set designer Klara Zieglerova’s functional metal construction, enhanced by pop art projections by Michael Clark, serves this authentic jukebox musical that doesn’t compromise or insult your intelligence.

Under the gutsy, unfussy direction of Des McAnuff realism has its day in the fact-based story of four talented young men who transcend their discouraging beginnings. The songs under Ron Melrose’ brisk direction and with terrific orchestrations by Steve Orich, are thankfully never coerced into defining character but principally confined to their places as performance pieces. This is a jukebox musical in which an engrossing carefully constructed plot with sharp dialogue is actually given heft by the interruptions of hit tunes.

The concerted excellence of the four principals is a major factor in this musical’s success. The bravura performance by John Lloyd Young, as Frankie Valli, the extraordinary lead singer with the soprano voice resonates with the most impact. Young, who is making his Broadway debut, delivers a dynamite portrayal of the boy whose survives a bad marriage to an older woman, the bitter betrayal of one of his partners whose debts he undertakes to pay, and the tragic loss of his daughter. But just as the drama behind the music remains the propellant, Young’s singing often and deservedly brings down the house. I suspect that the whistles and cheers come from many Jerseyites."

http://www.curtainup.com/jerseyboys.html

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Lots of critics had problems with PIAZZA's score and SPAMALOT and DRS got their share of mixed notices along with mostly raves. I think SPELLING BEE was the last new musical to get almost all raves, with grumpy old Clives Barnes and Howard Kissell being the sole detractors.

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Updated On: 11/7/05 at 01:16 PM

Yes, I think people are still dismissive about it.

I've heard almost NO talk on it, except a few friends saying "hey, I saw Jersey Boys!"

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3.5

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http://www.broadway.com/gen/Buzz_Video.aspx?ci=520911

I saw the show both in San Diego and again in New York. The differences are few (that I can recall), but here goes:

A different actor played Frankie Valli in San Diego and I thought the actor in San Diego had a singing voice truer to Valli’s original sound. Both actors were equally compelling in their acting roles.

The Joe Pesci character is much more fleshed-out in the New York show.

Other than that, I can’t recall much difference between the two. Keep in mind I saw the San Diego show back in December 2004 and the New York show, about three weeks ago…

Crowd reaction was about the same; this is not just an East coast draw, not at all! In San Diego the show sold out continually, and I hope the “boys” have a long run in New York as well. I loved the show and would encourage anyone to see it!