Jersey Boys: 7 recommendations
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Unlike many successful jukebox musicals, Jersey Boys serves not only as a fantastic musical, but as a faithful documentary of the rise of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons.
Making its debut at California’s famous La Jolla Playhouse in October 2004, Jersey Boys transferred to Broadway’s August Wilson Theatre just over a year later where it has so far won four Tony Awards, including Best Musical), a number of Drama Desk, Drama League and Outer Critics’ Circle awards and even a Grammy for the show’s soundtrack album.
Once Jersey Boys had fully established itself as a thriving mainstay on Broadway, national and international success followed. With productions in Chicago and Las Vegas and two national tours, London was naturally the next step.
With numerous awards and critical acclaim on its side, Jersey Boys’ arrival was tentatively welcomed, possibly due to recent failures of jukebox musicals in London, most recently the Blondie musical Desperately Seeking Susan, which closed after only a month of performances in December 2007.
As if another such failure was anticipated for Jersey Boys, London theatre websites and publications almost made excuses for it before the show had even begun, putting down its documentary theme and pointing out that Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons were more successful in America than they were in Britain.
However, this served simply to draw more attention to Jersey Boys, and with a firmly established Broadway reputation and wholehearted support from Frankie Valli himself, the London show has been an enormous success since it began in February 2008, receiving rave reviews.
With its effective set, direction and ingenious casting, Jersey Boys has proved its worth in London as a great mix of drama, documentary and some fantastic music.
Reviews
The Telegraph
Jersey Boys: Let's Hear it for the boys
It has a quality you rarely find in musicals - gritty honesty - as well as the best collection of pop hits since Mamma Mia! Jukebox musicals normally get a rough ride from the critics, but Jersey Boys, built on the hits of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, emphatically deserves to thrive here as it has already done in New York.
The Times
Compendium shows, meaning musicals whose plots are usually an excuse to douse the ears of nostalgia freaks with archaic hits, aren’t my favourite tipple.
But there’s good reason why Jersey Boys is about to enter its third year on Broadway and is now crossing the pond. It has the character, the narrative interest and the sense of place – as the backcloth indicates, the industrial badlands west of the Hudson River – to rise way above its genre.
