Hailing from New Jersey, Italian-American rock group Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons rose to fame in the mid-1960s and landed in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the 90s. Their shining suits, slicked-back hair and signature crooning style made them icons of their generation.
Hit songs like ‘Sherry,’ ‘Big Girls Don’t Cry,’ ‘Walk Like a Man’ and – one of the most famous love songs of all time – ‘Can’t Take My Eyes Off You’ propelled the group to the top of pop music charts and allowed them to sell hundreds of millions of records worldwide. The Tony Award-winning musical Jersey Boys, which debuts in Shanghai this month, tells their story.
Very few musicals promise head-nodding, toe-tapping entertainment the way Jersey Boys does. The Broadway smash hit begins in the early 1960s in a small town near Newark, New Jersey, where negative influences hinder the healthy upbringing of four youngsters.
As narrator Tommy DeVito, a member of the band and a hustler with an ear for music, tells the audience, there are only three ways to break out of the cycle of poverty in their hometown: enroll in the military, join the local mob; or, if you want to break out alive, try your hand at singing.
Enter Frankie Castelluccio (who later changes his surname to Valli), an incredibly gifted boy with an unmistakable voice and ear for music. After he joins DeVito’s band, they begin to make a name for themselves.
Their careers took off in late 1965, when a talented songwriter/keyboardist named Bob Gaudio, who later composes most of the band’s hit songs, completed the final lineup of The Four Seasons. In the Shanghai run of Jersey Boys, Gaudio is played by West End musical performer Matt Blaker.
According to the actor, the scene in which Gaudio joins the group is incredibly powerful to him, because it’s the first time they make the ‘Four Seasons Sound’ that carries them through the rest of the show. “It’s a raw and brilliant moment for the four of us,” he says.
While their fame continued to grow, troubles kept finding their way into The Four Seasons, from financial woes to marital crises and personal tragedy. By the time the group reunites for their Hall of Fame performance, they are all vastly different men.
Originally played by John Lloyd Young, whose impeccable performance earned praise from Frankie Valli himself, the main vocalist’s big shoes will now be filled by actor Luke Street, who faces yet another challenge in addition to working out his falsetto singing style.
“In the show, you’ll witness Frankie’s whole life story, as you can see him grow up from a 16-year-old boy to a 67-year-old man,” says Street. “And as I am only 24 years of age, this has been an enjoyable challenge for me to portray his development as a person.”
Hailing from a small town in the southwest of England, Street says that he discovered his love for music before moving to London to pursue a career in the performance arts, just like the four boys in the show did in Newark, New Jersey.
“‘Fallen Angel’ is the song that touches me the most because it’s about losing someone,” Street says, “I recently lost my grandfather so this song is close to my heart.”
As inspiring and entertaining as the show is, the story is hugely rooted in the 1960s culture of New Jersey, and will be staged by West End musical performers, which raises a slight concern as to whether all these elements can be adapted to the local market.
However, the troupe might have something up their sleeves. Don’t be surprised if Frankie starts to sing ‘Mo Li Hua’ (Jasmine Flower) on this upcoming China tour in November.
Nov 9-Dec 3, RMB79-999, 7.30pm (weekend matinees, 2.30pm). Daning Theatre, see event listing.
(All photos by Scott Rylander)
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