How did four blue-collar kids become one of the greatest successes in pop music history? Find out at Broadway's runaway smash-hit, Jersey Boys. The Tony Award-winning Best Musical of the 2006 takes you up the charts, across the country and behind the music of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons.
As Clive Barnes in the New York Post says, 'It's just too good to be true.' Discover the secret of a 40-year friendship: four blue-collar kids working their way from the streets of Newark to the heights of stardom. And experience electrifying performances of the golden greats that took these guys all the way to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: 'Sherry,' 'Big Girls Don't Cry,' 'Can't Take My Eyes Off You,' 'Dawn,' 'My Eyes Adored You,' and more. The New York Times says, 'The crowd goes wild!'
Now a Major Motion Picture! Jersey Boys is directed by Des McAnuff, with book by Marshall Brickman & Rick Elice , music by Bob Gaudio and lyrics by Bob Crewe.
Not to take anything away from the actual, you know, band, but the show's charm is primarily Des McAnuff's doing. The director has no illusions about what drives this sort of show. Jersey Boys may aim only to be a shallow, big-budget, crowd-pleasing jukebox musical, but it's a model of the genre. Admire first the deftness of the storytelling by librettists Marshall Brickman (who co-wrote Annie Hall) and Rick Elice. From the hardscrabble early scenes, which mostly involve band members- rotating in and out of jail ('the Rahway Academy of the Arts,' as the scholar-in-residence DeVito puts it), the script uses a Scorsese trick to race the action along: The boys' narration propels the story by layering exposition right over the songs. Sugar and medicine are calibrated so finely that, almost before you realize it, the boys have traded their horrible clashing pink shirts for the true badge of early-sixties pop success, matching maroon blazers. Buongiorno, groupies.
The songs - and you may be amazed to realize how many hits there were, from the early '60s on - are all flawlessly delivered, without sounding canned. The book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice is a little long on narration, and you may find your eyes glazing over until the point, two-thirds of the way through the first act, when the boys break into television with an appearance on 'American Bandstand.' From that point on, though, you snap awake and happily ride the wave.
2004 | San Diego, CA (Regional) |
Regional Premiere San Diego, CA (Regional) |
2005 | Broadway |
Original Broadway Production Broadway |
2006 | US Tour |
1st National Tour US Tour |
2007 | Chicago |
Chicago Production Chicago |
2008 | West End |
Original London Production West End |
2008 | Las Vegas |
Las Vegas Production Las Vegas |
2008 | Toronto |
Toronto Production Toronto |
2021 | West End |
West End |
2021 | West End |
West End |
2021 | West End |
West End |
2021 | West End |
London Production West End |
2021 | Off-Broadway |
Off-Broadway Revival Off-Broadway |
2021 | US Tour |
U.S. Tour US Tour |
2024 | US Tour |
US Tour US Tour |
Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
---|---|---|---|
2006 | Drama League Awards | Distinguished Production of a Musical | 0 |
2006 | The Hewes Awards | Lighting Design | Howell Binkley |
2006 | Theatre World Awards | Performance | John Lloyd Young |
2006 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical | Christian Hoff |
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