The Jersey Boys Tour Thread- Page 80

[fxy2003cmu]

Posted: 12/21/07 at 2:51am

Hey guys...Just posting to say a few friends and I rushed Chicago JB on Tuesday and it was pretty much amazing. The seats are relatively limited view, but the closeness when the actors are downstage more than make up for the small amount you can't see. Everyone was on.

Jarrod is just amazing as Frankie. He IS Frankie. He gives 110% every show and really delivers a great performance every single time. And his voice is fantastic.

There's really nothing bad I can say about this cast. The girls' singing could be a little bit stronger in my opinion but even that can't bring this show down. Awesome show with an awesome cast!!!!

Just thought you guys wouldn't mind an update :)

[cvrenthead]

Posted: 12/21/07 at 3:58am

Lizzie dearest - I only stopped by after the show, I didn't see it. I was merely basing my opinion off of the accountant being part of Gutman's tour track. Sorry for any confusion.

The horse/Playbill picture makes me giggle. A lot.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 12/21/07 at 4:05am

Oh, I gotcha. :)

BTW if people haven't seen these yet, they should:
http://web.mac.com/johnmichaeldias/iWeb/site/Jersey%20boys.html

Go to the bottom for some photos from Gypsy of the Year with Larry Baker and JMD!

[mll85]

Posted: 12/21/07 at 4:13am

I'm actually suprised their aren't any pictures from Larry Baker covering the event somewhere. He took pictures at every event they did while the Chicago cast was in SF. Speaking of the Chicago cast, thanks for posting an update on how the guys are doing fxy2003cmu. Haven't been hearing much news from that company.

[shatteredheart]

Posted: 12/21/07 at 3:52pm

Harley (the horse) is an avid Jersey Boys fan. As you can see he studies the program carefully and he knows everything about the show. He's also a New Jersey native. First there was Mr. Ed and now Harley from Jersey.

[jwonjy119]

Posted: 12/21/07 at 6:58pm

http://tourthat.blogspot.com/2007/12/i-rocked-so-hard-i-made-my-fingers.html

[Teenes]

Posted: 12/22/07 at 3:12am

I just saw Jersey Boys for the fourth time in SF tonight. I knew the run was nearing its end and couldn't resist trying for rush seats to catch this cast (I previously saw the 1st tour once and the 2nd tour twice). I left work early and got there at 5:45PM and was a bit worried because there were 13 people ahead of me in line, but ended up with lower box seats that were better than the rush seats I got last time - limited view but not as limited, and limited in the opposite direction (I was on the right side of the stage, last time I was on the left side). Though I don't think I realized how much was done on the catwalk until I couldn't see what was going on up there. And the people in the box with me totally missed the "Our Sons" going to "Four Seasons" on the sign because it was behind the spiral staircase from our perspective.

I don't seem to have gotten any understudies tonight, which is neat. I wonder if Rick Faugno was tired, though. I've never seen him before so I have nothing to compare, but by the end of the evening he looked noticeably more wrung out and with less energy than everyone else, and his control over his voice over the course of the evening didn't seem to be consistent. I have to say, Rick was far from my favorite Frankie, vocally - actually, probably my least favorite. He kept getting up into his throat rather a lot, which produced a rather unpleasant, pinched, sharp sounding voice, especially when he was belting or going high. What's odd is that I feel like his singing voice range went higher than the other Frankies I've seen in that he didn't seem to need to go falsetto as much, or he disguised his falsetto better, but I thought he sounded the best when he was singing the lower parts. "My Eyes Adored You," the beginning part of "Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You," and the parts of "Fallen Angel" where he doesn't start going louder sounded terrific, I thought. But I couldn't get into his performances of "Sherry," "Big Girls Don't Cry," "Walk Like a Man," etc... On the plus side, my friend who has never heard or seen Jersey Boys before enjoyed it all, and leaned over after "Sherry" to say "Wow they really nailed that" and then again after "Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You" to say he really liked it. So maybe I'm just hypercritical now, or it's not fair because I keep comparing to Jarrod who's not only my favorite Frankie, but I also have a recording of from the Emmy's to keep his interpretation fresh in my mind. Also on the flip side, Rick probably sounded closer to the more gritty sound the real Frankie Valli achieves in his non-falsetto singing than Chris, Jarrod, or JLY. I think he let it get a little out of control from time to time though. But I go back to the tired hypothesis b/c at times his singing reminded me a little of me at the end of a karaoke night when I have to force my voice to go where I want it to, and at times it slips a little out of my control.

Acting-wise, I thought he was fine. At times he seemed to rush through lines, but at others I thought his emphasis and delivery were spot-on, and at times more convincing than either Chris or Jarrod. I was sitting on the side where his back was to me in some crucial scenes, like "Fallen Angel" and the pizza parlor scene with Mary Delgado, though, so it's a bit hard to judge. I still feel like Jarrod matures the most convincingly and the most subtly of the three Frankies I've seen. He becomes more mature without you really consciously noticing it, but just gradually takes on more gravity and more emotional weight. I thought Rick was ok here - I didn't really feel like he came off too young or anything. Hard to match what Jarrod did, IMO, b/c I can't even tell how Jarrod pulls it off.

As for the others, I actually quite enjoyed Bryan McElroy's Tommy DeVito. Though he has a far weaker falsetto in that jail ditty he came up with in Ohio than any other Tommy I've heard, I liked his singing voice in general, and thought his interpretation of the role worked quite well. He did the tough guy thing covering up for the screwups and delivering lines just right to get the laughs, and I liked him. Jeff Leibow as Nick Massi I also enjoyed. I feel like his line delivery and accent was actually fairly similar to Michael Ingersoll's which made me wonder if he was influenced by Michael's interpretation or if maybe Nick just sounded like that and they were both working off of that. His take seemed less fussy OCD than Michael Ingersoll's and a bit more wise guy, but I thought it worked well. Andrew Rannells as Bob Gaudio I have mixed feelings on. Vocally, loved his performance of "Oh What a Night," not as fond of "Cry for Me." He played up the humor really well, and did the young Bob in a really funny way. My friend found something a bit off about his performance but couldn't articulate it but I think I know what he means - he was a bit overenthusiastic and a bit too broadly winking outside of the role, I think. I mean, he got great laughs from the audience but then he seemed to react to it a bit more than was in character. I guess what I'm saying is he didn't seem to stay in character - the other guys all reacted to the cheering and laughter in ways more consistent with their characters. But he was a lot of fun.

I think I still like my first Bob Crewe (name slips my mind) the best - his interpretation completely colored what I think the role should be for me. Jonathan Hadley didn't quite hit the right note for me and wasn't as funny, I thought, though he was fine in general. Also looked a bit older than I expected for the role. The girls were great, I thought. Since the spiral staircase was right in front of us it was kind of interesting and touching to watch Joyce Chittick as Mary sobbing on the staircase as Rick sang the first part of "My Eyes Adored You" (also kind of interesting to watch Rick just gulp down as much water as he could during the whole trying to get "Can't Take My Eyes Off of You" on the radio bit - not sure how he could sing after downing that much water, though I'm sure he needs it!).

I don't know if being on the far side throws off the vocal balance or how things are mixed, and whether that affects how I hear things. But at times I felt like the orchestrations/songs were a little flat - I felt like I could barely hear "Short Shorts," for instance. But at others, the harmonies were heavenly - I thought they sounded better at times than I'd ever heard before. The three non-Frankie guys and whoever was singing backstage to back them up just sounded awesome together.

I think it's funny whenever I read a review about how the show really gets going with "Sherry/Big Girls/Walk Like a Man" because I'm actually a huge fan of the earlier mix of songs - I love the whole intro bit, adore "Silhouettes", love "A Sunday Kind of Love" when they're harmonizing on it in the church... I think that's one of the things that keeps me going back to the show instead of just listening to the cast recording, since they don't have the full songs in the cast recording.

The audience was great, btw - very very into things, laughing hard, cheering and whooping appreciatively, and I don't think I've ever heard them gasp so loud when Tommy says he owes half a million in tax money. They jumped up for a standing ovation before any of the actors even hit the stage for their bows.

At any rate, I have to say I missed my favorite Frankie, Jarrod, but on the whole I'm very happy I decided to see Jersey Boys for the fourth time. I just love this show, and the finale always brings a huge smile to my face (except the part of me which goes "oh no, it's almost over!"). It's probably a good thing it's going away soon - I've never seen any show four times in a single year before, and there are very few shows I've even seen four times total! Not sure I should let myself be tempted to see it for a fifth time!

[mll85]

Posted: 12/22/07 at 3:35am

It sounds like Rick is having a slightly off night. He gives a fantastic performance and I've seen him do it. But if he's not healthy, it seems to affect his performance. And from your description of him, he may be coming down or recovering from something. I heard he didn't do the show Thursday night. Hopefully it was just a 24 hour thing and he's fully recoverd by tomorrow. And what ever he had doesn't turn into some bug that floats around the company. The weather the past few days probably didn't help much either.

Updated On: 12/22/07 at 03:35 AM

[Teenes]

Posted: 12/22/07 at 3:56am

Ah that makes sense. I was wondering if he was just having an off night because there were signs of strain and wavering control I wouldn't expect to see on someone in a lead role like that, in the sense that if he performed like that every night, he'd never make it through the week. And like I said, it wasn't consistent - sometimes his falsetto sounded great, sometimes he seemed to be having trouble getting up there, sometimes he didn't sound like he was even trying to do it in falsetto - and sometimes he had a gorgeous sounding lower register and sometimes it seemed to be forced or slipping a bit out of his control. If he didn't perform Thursday night, then he probably is getting over something, which would account for it. Hopefully it'll pass soon!

[BWNUT]

Posted: 12/22/07 at 12:33pm

I don't know, Teenes. I saw Rick in the LA run and, I hate to be negative but honestly, I had the same reaction as you. And here's part of the review from the San Francisco Chronicle:

"Still, the show doesn't entirely hit: It needs to move faster, yes, but there are casting challenges as well.

One of them is the uneven performance of Faugno in the central role of Frankie. Although he's the only one of the actors in the major role who's done "JB" before - he played Joey in the first San Francisco cast - his performance as Frankie still seems like a work in progress. His biggest challenge is his falsetto. It's not that you expect the guy who plays Valli to sound exactly like him, but Faugno's falsetto is almost comically nasal at times. And it shouldn't be.

Other aspects of his performance can be more easily remedied. Ironically, for someone who played the dippy neighborhood loose cannon Joey who grows up to become the Hollywood loose cannon Joe Pesci, Faugno is almost dour at times, way too buttoned up as Frankie. I swear the only time the guy actually smiled convincingly was during the finale, when the group is inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The other thing he probably can't do much about is that he looks uncannily like a young Marty Scorsese without the Groucho eyebrows. "


That part about his "comically nasal" falsetto, apparently I was not the only one who noticed it. The audience that night in LA was laughing during "I can't give you anything but Love", and other scenes where there shouldn't be laughter. I remember thinking, "There shouldn't be laughter here."

But I don't agree with the reviewer's criticism of his acting. You can say that compared to CKJ's passionate take on the role, Rick was "dour" and "buttoned up" but taken on its own, Rick's much more low-key approach to the role was also effective.

Anyway, that's just one JB fan's opinion.





Updated On: 12/22/07 at 12:33 PM

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 12/22/07 at 1:46pm

The audience that night in LA was laughing during "I can't give you anything but Love", and other scenes where there shouldn't be laughter. I remember thinking, "There shouldn't be laughter here."

The first time I ever heard anyone laugh during that song, it was Jarrod -- and it happened every time I saw him. And often one of the people laughing was me.

I never disliked Jarrod, but I've seen seven others (CKJ, Dias, Copolla, JLY, Faugno, Goldsmith, Bwarie) and can easily say Jarrod was my least favorite. I'd rather get Rick's growl and eerie Frankie-like expressions than some of the other things I was getting out of other Frankies, but hey, lots of people love Jarrod, just like lots of other people love Michael Crawford; I'm just not in either camp.

Updated On: 12/22/07 at 01:46 PM

[Teenes]

Posted: 12/22/07 at 2:14pm

I've only seen three Frankies, but I remember being thrown off by all three when they came up to sing "I Can't Give You Anything But Love." The attempt to portray Frankie young seemed to lend all three of them a comically nasal sound - with CKJ I remember thinking he was also wavering off key, with Jarrod it was just disturbingly nasal, and same with Rick. I don't know why they're directed to sing that way but it doesn't give a very good initial impression of Frankie's "amazing" voice and it made it less than convincing for me that the girls in the club would be melting over him.

The one thing that I thought Jarrod was a bit lacking in was facial expressions - his singing was expressive but his face didn't seem to do much in terms of varying in expression, except in a few scenes. But I actually felt the same about Rick last night a lot of the time. He was a bit more expressive, especially in the singing performance scenes, but I started wondering if interpreting Frankie meant keeping that kind of calm placid face most of the time. CKJ had a weird tendency to wrinkle his face a lot while singing, so I definitely couldn't accuse him of not moving his face, and he was otherwise expressive. But not being all that familiar with the real Frankie Valli's mannerisms, I don't know if he's just a very calm presence or if Jarrod needed to be more expressive.

BTW can I ask a random question? I never got the impression the real Four Seasons or Frankie Valli did much dancing. I get the choreographed dancing bits during Jersey Boys for the most part - it is a stage show, and I do enjoy it - but I never got why Frankie does the spin and going down in splits (however impressive it is, and Rick does it well) right before "Beggin'". Did Frankie ever do that?

[MelissaM]

Posted: 12/22/07 at 4:15pm

It is very obvious that there are some people on this thread who feel that they have not gotten the proper recognition from some previous actors who have played Frankie here in SF. The rushers who gathered at the stage door after performances were very loyal to the cast as they exited and some of these rushers did not get the attention they so dearly needed. Hence, this lack of attention causes them to express their disappointment with vindictive critique that makes them feel important. It is a shame that by this time, they just can't feel the joy of the season, look in the mirror and say, "It's time to shut up". Let it go already!
Updated On: 12/24/07 at 04:15 PM

[Shawk]

Posted: 12/22/07 at 4:23pm

It is very obvious that there are some people on this thread who feel that they have not gotten the proper recognition from some previous actors who have played Frankie here in SF. The rushers who gathered at the stage door after performances were very loyal to the cast as they exited and some of these rushers did not get the attention and that they so dearly needed. Hence, this lack of attention causes them to express their disappointment with vindictive critique that makes them feel important. It is a shame that by this time, they just can't feel the joy of the season, look in the mirror and say, "It's time to shut up". Let it go already!

Wow, that sure makes me feel the joy of the season.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 12/22/07 at 4:37pm

Wait, but Hanukkah's over.

[Teenes]

Posted: 12/22/07 at 5:31pm

I may be missing something here, but I think I'm the only one who's posted anything critical in the last week or so, and I've never waited by the stage door or met any of the actors. I've also only rushed twice out of the four times I've seen the show so I don't really consider myself a "rusher." But maybe that comment was directed by other people and I just don't get it.

[shatteredheart]

Posted: 12/22/07 at 5:35pm

Rick is sick and Joe is on for Frankie both shows today (Sat. 12/22)

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 12/22/07 at 5:36pm

It's ok, Teenes -- hang around in this thread long enough and you'll figure out who (not) to take seriously.

EDIT: New photo appeared in the SF Chron's theatre listings today. I haven't found it online yet, so here's a scan.

Updated On: 12/22/07 at 05:36 PM

[shatteredheart]

Posted: 12/22/07 at 10:14pm

Update! Rick is back tonight.

[mll85]

Posted: 12/23/07 at 1:35pm

So at the show last night they had to do a midshow switch. Never had that happen at any of the shows I've been to. Don't know what happend but Lauren Tartaglia stepped in for Julia Krohn after intermission. Hopefully nothing serious. But the show was still great.

On another note, Jeff Leibow has some of his website up. It's sill a work in progress but there is some stuff on it.




Jeffleibow.com Updated On: 12/23/07 at 01:35 PM

[shatteredheart]

Posted: 12/23/07 at 3:44pm

There was an accident backstage. Just as a precaution, they took Julia out of the show. She's fine and is performing today (Sun.)

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 12/23/07 at 5:00pm

Taylor Sternberg goes on as Frankie tonight for the first time. Break a leg, Taylor!

http://twitter.com/taylorsternberg/statuses/508184272

[jwonjy119]

Posted: 12/23/07 at 6:50pm

Yay! =]

[jwonjy119]

Posted: 12/24/07 at 2:28pm

Taylor's First Time as Frankie Updated On: 12/24/07 at 02:28 PM

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 12/24/07 at 2:39pm

Love it! I hope we get to see pictures. :) (Besides Erik Bates; not that I'm complaining.)

Updated On: 12/24/07 at 02:39 PM