Poor John Altieri! I never saw an understudy for Crewe and I was beginning to believe that he and the other actors playing that role have indestructible health. Hope he is better soon!
So, Chicago. Rush was... interesting. We were the first ones there (7:15-ish), shortly followed by many other people. I still actually don't know what the strict policies were because no one explained them to us other than that it was $25 and no more than 2 tickets per person, but it did seem like you could get tickets to the matinee or evening performance when the box office opened.
The show: It was great to see the cast on stage again. Jersey Boys, for me, was sort of a wonderful way to decompress after a stressful week. It's almost guaranteed that a person will walk out with a smile on their face after watching the show, and the fact that the various casts are made up of such talented and kind people doesn't hurt, either.
The only casting change was, of course, Bryan McElroy, and John Hickman was on for Ryan Quinn West. Bryan McElroy is a large departure from Jeremy Kushnier's Tommy, who I always felt was relatively crafty but self-destructive, whereas McElroy's Tommy seems like he wants success yet has no idea really how to go about getting it and it's inevitable that he'll screw it up once he does. For example, for Kushnier's Tommy, "not getting" the title of "Walk Like a Man" seemed to me more a domination move by showing he could needle Bob, whereas McElroy's Tommy really doesn't get it. I saw him fairly early on in the SF/Vegas cast, and I felt like his take on the role has developed since-- his gestures aren't as big, and his portrayal was solid and worked. I enjoyed seeing him with this cast.
Everbody's performance had altered at least a little, of course, but nothing incredibly dramatic. I must mention, though, that Jarrod Spector had an intensity that I don't recall seeing previously (and this is not to say that I didn't enjoy him before). "Begging You" was sung with complete desperation at Gyp, and all of his emotional scenes had a lot of punch. And of course it was really great to hear his crazy effortless falsetto again.
Anyway, it was just lovely to see Michael Ingersoll's lovable but messed-up Nick, Drew Gehling and his great facial expressions, Craig Laurie's memorable Bob Crewe, John Hickman as the tallest Mika ever, Jenny Lee Stern's tough girl Mary, and of course everyone else.
Random thing: I think the LaSalle Bank theater has better sound than the Curran, because I had never really registered the car sound effects during the "Shopping, Jersey Style" scene before, and the echoing in the church scene sounded more pronounced.
BC/EFA: Two set of people paid $1700 for a photo with the cast on stage. Wow. Go, Chicago Jersey Boys.
Blooper: During the call Francine makes to Frankie and Mary, I noticed something was a bit off but I couldn't tell what (being that close to the stage didn't help as I couldn't see the top of the table at all). Jarrod Spector said the "I'm an entertainer, remember?" line, but Jenny Lee Stern didn't reply with her line. Instead, the phone rang and she quickly walked off the stage. There was a moment of silence, then she walked back in, holding the phone, and irritably smacked it down on the table. Then the scene went on as usual. It was handled nicely and I don't think that it would have been that noticeable if you hadn't seen the show a, er, few times before.
Why is it that the bloopers I catch always have to do with phones?
'"Contrairiwise," continued Tweedledee, "if it was so, it might be; and if it were so, it would be; but as it isn't, it ain't. That's logic."'
~Lewis Carroll
Updated On: 4/22/08 at 01:02 PM