Review: Jersey Boys, UK Tour, at the Palace Theatre, Manchester

When I started writing, the first post I ever did contained lots of mini reviews. This show was one of them; and I have not seen it since, so I have never been able to give it the full treatment. Until now - I believe 12 years is a more than suitable gap between viewings. 

Celebrating its 20th Anniversary, Manchester is welcoming the return of Jersey Boys

Premiering on Broadway in 2005 and then the West End in 2008, the show follows how The Four Seasons become one of America's best-loved groups of the 60s and beyond. It has become known as one of the best jukebox bio-musicals in the musical theatre canon, winning four Tonys, an Olivier, and the Grammy for Best Musical Album. 

While the name Four Seasons may be a little more obscure to my generation and later as a whole (the last time I saw it, my parents knew far more songs than me), I can guarantee you will know some of them: from Sherry, to Oh What A Night, and Can't Take My Eyes Off You. 

Like I said, Jersey Boys is celebrating its 20th Anniversary. While we are starting to see a trend of jukebox musicals not being so great, what is it about this one, one that told producers that jukebox bio-pic musicals could make them a lot of money, that gets audiences back again and again? 

Well, I think a starting point is that Jersey Boys feels just as much a drama as it does a musical

I had forgotten how good of a choice Jersey Boys is for a non-traditional musical theatre fan to try out and enjoy; because it doesn't feel like a musical as such. It feels a lot more like a play of how The Four Seasons (the Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons) came to be, with music interweaving into the dialogue as seamlessly as if Marshall Brickman was writing a straight play with music such as Stereophonic rather than a musical. 

Each of the four members takes turns in narrating quarters of the story: starting with Tommy DeVito forming the group, then Bob Gaudio arriving and writing the songs that brought them stardom, Nick Massi observing the friction within the four, and ending with Frankie Valli becoming a successful solo artist in his own right. Each of the boys had a very different personality, and having each of them narrate allows us to glimpse into each of them

The story can also get dark at times, referencing real life ties to the New Jersey Mafia, drugs, and other struggles the boys had, particularly money troubles and how much it affects the groups fallout. You will love to hate Carlo Boumouglbay's Tommy DeVito as a result. 

Each of the four titular boys does a fantastic performance, but the star really is Luke Baker as Frankie Valli

I had forgotten how hard of a part Frankie Valli is. Not only is the actor singing high countertenor and falsetto constantly, on stage for at least 90% of the show, and also a giant acting role; but also you are doing all that while playing a real person who is still alive! 

Playing Frankie Valli is certainly a challenge, and Baker performed it excellently. You couldn't help but be behind Frankie in every part of the bands' journey, when he was the one you were instantly drawn to. 

Jersey Boys feels like a perfect drama for Autumn, with some fantastic songs thrown in

In places, Jersey Boys is a hard watch. But it ends on such a high, the quartet have the audience eating out of their palms. And, I admit, it was hard to not leave the theatre walking out like the boys do in Walk Like A Man. 

If you haven't seen Jersey Boys before, or like myself, haven't seen it for a long time, then I would highly recommend catching it. In an era when you feel like everyone is having a bio musical, and the community is getting a little sick of jukebox musicals, here comes Jersey Boys to remind us of one such show done right. There is a reason, beyond the classic music, why it has lasted 20 years.