Jersey Boys

It’s nice to be “the date” once in a while. I thought this was supposed to really take off with women’s lib, but that doctrine just never picked up a lot of momentum.

Anyway, last night it was dinner at Jeff Ruby’s Steakhouse and over to the Aronoff for the performance of “Jersey Boys.” I’m sure she selected Ruby’s for me because the man makes a mean cow. She probably overlooked the apropos connection. Jeff is a Jersey boy.

JB is a musical production about the life and times of the Four Seasons. Rick Elick wrote the book. It could’ve been a template for hundreds of street lamp, alley and subway groups that sprung up in Jersey, Philly and Brooklyn at the time. Like the movie, “Eddie and the Cruisers.” I think anyone who was in one of them feels more than one little tug at various turns in the stories. Who didn’t fight over play lists or get screwed by club owners?

Musicals can be just a little swishy. Appropriate for most of their subjects, but a band from Jersey? Well, the Four Seasons were a little soft, as rock goes, so it wasn’t too bad.

They slipped in some good detail, like a young Joe Pesci. He was a hanger-on back then. In fact, I believe his first screen appearance was in the movie “Hey, Let’s Twist.” Joe was an uncredited extra in the movie that made Joey Dee and the Starliters (Jersey boys), as well as the Peppermint Lounge. Jumping into the musical limelight with a JB is the Jersey version of an audition (see: Courtney Cox).

The musical score for JB kind of writes itself. I mean, it’s the story of the Four Seasons, right? The writers didn’t go the easy route and laced it with some period stuff. There’s an Angels number (“My Boyfriend’s Back”) that’s almost a footnote to the story, but is one of the gems. If the Angels had the benefit of modern choreography, they might still be around. These performers killed.

For some of the numbers, they’d drop screens of actual performances over the stage. So, when they were appearing on “The Ed Sullivan Show,” they were doing the numbers on stage, but you saw the actual footage overhead. Very nice touch.

Always a danger in trying to portray icons and sing their numbers. More so with the unique Frankie Valli falsetto. But, it was a decent shot. Better than some of the stage Jersey accents.

But, does the show hold together? And how! It captured the ambiance of the times and swept up the audience into dancing and clapping along.

True art evokes emotion. This is true art.