In 2004, Broadway insiders weren’t excited about a new musical based on the lives of the Four Seasons. Other so-called “juke box” musicals—most notably Movin’ Out and Lennon—had bombed. Why would one using the music of a group of guys from Jersey be any different?
Five years later, we know the answer to that question. Jersey Boys won the 2006 Tony Award for best musical and spawned productions in Chicago, Las Vegas, Toronto, London, and Melbourne, as well as a touring company. Quite simply, it has become an entertainment phenomenon. A loyal fan base (a blog follows current and former cast members and gives updates on all the productions) continues to grow and true fans have not only seen the New York production numerous times, but also travel to other cities to see those shows, too.
This month Jersey Boys marked its fifth anniversary on Broadway. To celebrate, the Paley Center for Media planned a special evening that brought together (left to right, above) Frankie Valli and Bob Gaudio, two of the four original band members, with Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice, who wrote the book for the show. A bonus was having Paul Shaffer from The Letterman Show serve as moderator. Shaffer brought his sense of humor and musical knowledge to his role, eliciting laughter from the audience and insight from the participants. Forgive us for this cliché, but oh, what a night!
Like other events at the Paley Center, the evening began with TV clips, these from the 1960s and 1970s—American Bandstand, Steve Allen (above), Hullabaloo (Hullabaloo!), and The Midnight Special. There were many chuckles over the clothes. (Those powder blue embroidered bellbottom leisure suits should find their way into the Smithsonian). But that unique Four Seasons sound, with its centerpiece, that unmistakable Frankie Valli falsetto, has never gone out of style.
“The way you sing,” Shaffer told Valli, “is totally original. Where did this crazy thing come from, that high falsetto and that beautiful ballad voice?” Frankie laughed. “All that is true,” he said. “My father used to say to me, `what kind of singing is that?’”
According to Gaudio, Valli’s natural falsetto set the group apart from others doing four-part harmony, like the Beach Boys. “When you listen to Sherry,” he said, “the sound jumps out onto your lap. You have to hold onto the steering wheel.” While the Beach Boys sang those high parts softly, “we sang the high parts forcefully to create a sound that would be recognizable.” Yet when Valli lent his voice to those soft ballads, the listener could feel his passion. “He could sing Mary Had a Little Lamb and make you cry,” Gaudio said.
Growing up in New Jersey, Valli was influenced by some of the great jazz singers of the time—Dinah Washington, Sarah Vaughan—as well as by the Voice himself, Frank Sinatra. “I did a lot of imitating early on, taking from those I liked and making a style that was all my own,” Valli said. Shaffer asked what was the highest note he had ever hit. “Some only the dogs could hear,” he laughed.
During the group’s heyday, the Four Seasons had 29 Top 40 hits, while Valli had nearly a dozen as a solo artist. Little was known, however, about the personal lives of Frankie Valli, Bob Gaudio, Nick Massi, and Tommy DeVito—with good reason. As the story unfolds in the Broadway musical, the group—except for Gaudio—spent time between rehearsals going in and out of jail. “In the beginning we were cautious talking about what our lives were like,” Valli admitted. “We thought the radio would stop playing us and our record sales would stop.”
The surviving members of the group (Massi died in 2000), knew that the truth would have to be told in the musical. “They were very courageous,” said Marshall Brickman. “Most of the fans didn’t know as much about them as they knew about the Beatles.” Yet Valli said they were careful not to hurt other people. “We walked on eggshells to make sure we wouldn’t hurt anyone,” Valli said.
Elice talked about the beginning of the musical, how Brickman called him to ask: “Would you like to do a Mama Mia but with Four Seasons songs?” Brickman and Elice met with Gaudio and Valli and in 2002 produced a treatment. “It was a good enough writing sample,” Elice said, and they were off and running.
Jersey Boys opened in October 2004 at the La Jolla Playhouse and was an immediate hit. Everyone involved realized they had a “tiger by the tail.” The Dodgers Theatrical Group wanted to bring the musical to Broadway, initially running into resistance booking a theater for something that was still regarded as a “juke box” musical. One glance at the La Jolla spreadsheet, however, was all it took. The rest, as they say, is history.
Graham King has acquired the film rights and Brickman and Elice will write the script. Fans continue to speculate about casting. Des McAnuff, who directed the musical, insisted that the stage cast be able to play instruments as well as sing. Will similar requirements be applied to the film’s cast?
Well, it was singing that set the group apart from all others and that sound has withstood the test of time. While Jersey Boys tells a great story, the music is the story.
Jersey Boys
August Wilson Theater
245 West 52nd Street
Telecharge 212-239-6200
Read our previous story on Jersey Boys:
The Broadway Phenomenon That Is Jersey Boys
To keep up on Jersey Boys events, read the Jersey Boys Blog
