Jersey Boys excites in incredible Broadway production

Oh, what a night!

The lights went down. Act One was over. I looked to either side of me at my fellow choral singers, fellow theatre nuts. Staring back at me, and mirroring my own expression, were wide eyes, mouths agape. Awe.

This is the moment I have held on to. As a theatre buff, there are a scattering of performances that have left me speechless. Jersey Boys was by far the most outstanding.

The musical Jersey Boys opened in 2005, and immediately swept floor in 2006 and the Tony’s, winning Best Musical, Best Performance by a Leading Actor, Best Performance by a Featured Actor, and Best Lighting Design.

10 years later, the musical is still packing houses on Broadway, on tour, and in several cities, including Las Vegas and London.

Jersey Boys is a jukebox musical chronicling the true story of the fame, fortune, and fall of the 1960s band The Four Seasons. Cleverly depicting the band’s own four seasons (spring-winter), the show follows four boys in their rise from a small town in New Jersey to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The band was unique for its close quartet harmonies and amazing vocals of a counter-tenor lead singer. Musically, a counter-tenor is able to sing not only the lower male range, but as high as a high female soprano.

The musical can be summed up by the term “juke-box musical”, but I believe that doesn’t do the show justice. Unlike hodgepodge jukebox musicals such as All Shook Up, the show takes each hit song by the Four Seasons and sets them into the story, giving the musical a plot-based musical feel.

Jersey Boys originally starred John Loyd Young as Frankie Valli, the lead singer of the band. Young went on to play Valli in the movie adaption in 2014, and release a debut album titles “My Turn”.

In 2006, actor Joseph Leo Bwarie took over the role of Valli on Broadway, and still plays Valli today. Bwarie has amazingly performed the role over 2,000 times. He also has released one solo album, “Nothin But Love”, and his second album, “The Good Stuff, is set to come out this November.

I was lucky enough to be able to see the show twice. The first was on Broadway in June, 2015, and the second time was last weekend: October, 2015.

That first show in Broadway starred Bwarie was Valli, Richard H. Blake as Tommy DeVito, Matt Bogart as Nick Massi, and Quinn VanAntwerp as Bob Guadio.

In the first show, what really blew me away was the vocal performance by Joseph Leo Bwarie. I had never heard anyone sing like that, much less a man. Bwarie soared over intense vocals like it was a breeze, his voice smoother and sweeter than honey. It was like an angel had come down to sing this song just for us in the audience. It was a gift to witness his voice live.

In the second show, I saw Valli played by Miguel Jarquin-Morleland, Matthew Darley as Tommy DeVito, Keith Hines as Nick Massi, and Drew Seely as Bob Guadio.

That’s right- Drew Seely. Seely was a Disney actor, best known for his role in A Cinderella Story with costar Selena Gomez. Lesser known, Seely was also the voice for all singing done by Troy Bolton in High School Musical.

And let me assure you, Seely did not disappoint. This time, my focus was on the character Bob Guadio, for Seely’s performance was amazing. His voice sounded simply too good to be true, unbelievably the same as the beloved High School Musical songs I grew up with.

It isn’t enough to say I wasn’t expecting the show to completely knock my socks off. I hadn’t even chosen to go see the show, originally. I was in New York City on Milford High School’s vocal music program’s triannual trip, and my musical and choral directors had selected 2 shows for us to see on Broadway.

Most Americans would recognize the tune of the band’s number one hit, Sherry, but I never knew the name of the band, or couldn’t have recognized any other song by them. I had no idea what Jersey Boys was about, and in fact, I was a little bitter about not being able to see Newsies, the alternate option.

I sat back in my seat as the lights went down and prepared to snooze.

Flash forward to the moment I depicted before, with 56 student’s jaws to the floor and my minds reeling.

Every single harmony, every single move, each flashing light, and quicker than lighting costume changes were perfectly executed. The epic rise and fall pulled at heart strings, made me laugh out loud, and even brought me to tears.

The songs are cheerful, fun to sing along to, and dance worthy. All students on that trip walked out of the theatre with a skip in their step, humming a tune. The show was so vocally charged, ringing in your ears with every harmony, any music fan couldn’t help but hope to imitate the sound.

I cannot emphasize enough how outstanding the show was. I would recommend the show to anyone interested in musical theatre, though be warned that some of the Jersey characters spout some obscene language.

Jersey Boys is playing one more weekend in Michigan this year, in Detroit November 17th-December 6th. Even if you’re not a fellow theatre fan, I recommend you check it out.