The Seattle Traveler

Was it theater?  Or a concert?  For much of the performance I wasn’t really sure.  And I didn’t really care.

Jersey Boys tells the story of the rise to fame of The Four Seasons, the boy band from the wrong side of the New Jersey tracks.  The story is told from four different points of view, representing the four seasons as well as The Four Seasons, and it’s easy to see the different goals and self-interests that both propelled the group to fame and foretold its demise.

One of the most successful musical groups of the 1960’s, despite being very establishment during a period rife with counterculture, the band spent time on the pop charts when they could just have likely spent time in prison.

With Frankie Valli fronting them, and despite his wide vocal range and impressive falsetto, the group had no real success until they met up with songwriter Bob Gaudio.  Gaudio had already staked out a bit of a songwriting claim to fame with "Who Wears Short Shorts?"  The Valli-Gaudio partnership, established and continued on a handshake, gave the group its boost to stardom.

And that’s the story that’s told in the first act of this musical, with songs interspersed in chronological order.  During the 3-song set of "Sherry," "Big Girls Don’t Cry," and "Walk Like a Man" it seemed more like rockin’ out concert than the telling of a story, though.

There’s a second act to come. . . .

The second act tells about the problems that the group encountered and the eventual break up of The Four Seasons, and the creation of Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons.  The songs are more strategically integrated into what was happening to the group, and even through some pretty dark times, hits were still coming, including "Stay," "Let’s Hang On (to What We’ve Got)," and "Opus 17 (Don’t You Worry About Me)."

The story was in the music, which turned out to be a very good thing.  While the sound system and acoustics were great when it came to the music, the story narration came out garbled and too often inaudible.  It wasn’t the mush-mouth of an inadequate performer, but the failure to compensate for the change in audio needs.  I was sitting in the center balcony, third row, and had to strain to hear what was said.  I wasn’t the only one, as all around me I heard "What did he say?"  If you’re going to go back and forth between loud band music and character narration, you need to not only have your sound adjustments made, but allow time for your audience to make adjustments as well.

The performance concluded with one final song after the cast took their bows.  The clapping went on and on, the audience forgetting that the band wasn’t waiting in the wings for an encore song.

Location:  5th Avenue Theater, 1306 5th Avenue, downtown (map it)

Dates & Times:  Runs through January 12th, varying times.  Online schedule here.

Tickets:  Available online, $28 - 88, prices vary depending on dates and seat location

Parking:  Numerous pay lots in the area, most with reasonable prices after 6 pm.

Get a taste of what you’ll see by watching this performance from the Tony Awards, where Jersey Boys won a Tony for Best Musical.

____________________________________________