I can't believe nobody on any of the tour stops has discovered this message board and this thread. C'mon, people. We're starving for JB Tour news here.
Saw the show in ATL last night. It was my first time seeing the show, and I have to say, I really enjoyed it. Much more than I expected. I can definitely see why Jersey Boys has earned so much praise. It's a really fun show.
I especially enjoyed the performance of Joseph Leo Bwarie as Frankie. He was very convincing, and even before he hit those first falsetto notes, you believed he was Frankie Valli. I think all of the performers, Matt Bailey, Josh Franklin, and Steve Gouveia were great.
I think the ensemble was pretty strong, though it seemed that "My Boyfriend's Back" was not sung by the girls in it's original key. I also only liked the projections when they were used for the tv show appearances and to go from one season to the next. I thought some of the other graphics were a little hokie otherwise.
The crowd was really into the show from the beginning, and seemed to be at the edge of their seat by the time the guys sang "Sherry". I was really happy to see the crowd give the show a good response, It is my personal experience in Miami and Atlanta that many crowds away from NYC usually give "running ovations". I was pleased to see that at the end of the show, the entire audience immediately came to its feet for the entire cast, not just the leads.
Having never seen the OBC, I have nothing to base an opinion from except this company, and I found Jersey Boys national tour to be a high energy, exciting show. Overall, I completely enjoyed this show, and may take some other folks back to see it before it's over here in ATL.
*edit* My husband reminded me of something to add here. There were several sound glitches. At the beginning of the show when Tommy begins to tell the story, you couldn't hear him for about the first 30 seconds, and at the end during the epilogue, there was static in the sound system, actually during most of the second act there was a distortion to the sound.
"Like the good Lord says . . . Ya gotta take the rough with the smooth, Baby!" Madame Rose