Don't sweat Longoria leaving. The actor who plays Frankie Valli
on Saturday matinees and Sundays is every bit as good. This was
the third kid I've seen take the part and there's not a hair's breadth
of difference between them.
I will make one observation: I won't see it again until I can score
another seat in the first two or three rows dead center.
I've seen it from first row center mezz and 10 rows back in the
orchestra and it's an entirely different show when the cast for
most of the show is no more than 10 feet from you and the rest
of the time they are right at the footlights an arms' length
away from you.
I was extremely surprised that being soooo close could ramp
up the power of the show so much. With the exception of the
opening number the acoustics were great and I could see nuances of the performances I missed being 40 or 60 feet away.
A critic in Dallas even alluded to this. He said that as he watched
the actor who played Tommy Devito from the first row center,
Devito had all the intensity of "a caged panther that would do
anything to break free of his chains".
There's no choreography that has to be viewed from the back
of the house or the mezz, so nothing is lost their.
I was so dazzled by the difference of the intensity of the show from
that I vowed to myself I would not see it again until I could do so
from rows a-c, ded center.
The people to my left initially thought it was much to close but
in 10 minutes you had to strap them into their seats. They, too,
agreed this is one show that should be seen from the very front
of the house.
Updated On: 8/14/08 at 10:56 PM
