Featuring Joseph Leo Bwarie, Jeremy Kushnier. Music by Bob Gaudio. Lyrics by Bob Crewe. Book by Marshall Brickman & Rick Elice. Directed by Des McAnuff. Presented by Dodger Theatricals, Joseph J. Grano, Tamara and Kevin Kinsella, Pelican Group, with Latitude Link and Rick Steiner. To Nov 9. Tue-Sat 8pm; Wed, Sat & Sun 2pm. $55-$125. Toronto Centre for the Arts, 5040 Yonge St. 416-872-1111.
www.dancaptickets.com.
Dancap’s last production of the season is Jersey Boys, winner of the 2006 Tony Award for Best Musical. It’s a jukebox musical centred on songs made famous by Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons and a clichéd rags-to-riches tale at that, but the generally unknown background story has enough grit and the performances by the four leads are so fantastic that they make the old-hat seem brand new.
The story follows the efforts, from 1954 on, of part-time criminal Tommy DeVito (Jeremy Kushnier) to form a successful band until he discovers the talented Frankie Valli (Joseph Leo Bwarie) and adds signature songwriter Bob Gaudio (Andrew Rannells) to the group. After a golden period of number one hits, internal strife tears the group apart with original members Nick Massi (Steve Gouveia) leaving in 1965 and De Vito in 1970. The show concludes with the original members meeting for a last time in 1990 for their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Unlike Mamma Mia!, the songs here are nearly always sung as songs, not as expressions of character. That fact means we have to judge how well the four principals capture the sound of the originals. In short, they are simply amazing, especially Bwarie, who has the same high tenor and beautifully rich falsetto of Valli himself. Were the show no more than a tribute band performance it would still be a winner. Indeed, the set looks more like the rig for a rock concert than a musical. Gay audience members will be displeased to find charismatic polymath Bob Crewe (Jonathan Hadley), reduced to a stereotypical limp-wristed queen and, worse, portrayed solely as the group’s producer with no mention made on stage that he co-wrote the nearly all of the Four Seasons’ hits. The program credits him with the show’s lyrics. Why doesn’t the musical itself do so?