Cape Cod Times
Taking a little theater vacation on Cape Cod? Check out these reviews of local shows, along with show times and how to get tickets. This list is updated all week as shows hit the stages.
They were just what they said – four boys from Jersey, who took the pop music world by storm in the 1960s with their unique sound – and Frankie Valli’s electrifying voice. The jukebox musical “Jersey Boys,” rocking at the Cape Playhouse through July 22, tells a rags to riches – and back again – story of how four kids from the Jersey streets, with a little push/pull from the mob, took a blockbuster journey to fame, complete with 100 million records sold and 71 chart hits. Their meteoric rise in the 1960s finally culminated with their induction to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1990.
Name of show: “Jersey Boys”
Book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice; music by Bob Gaudio; directed by Jessica Holt, direction and choreography by Joyce Chittick; performed at Cape Playhouse.
What it’s about: It’s all about the music, celebrating Gaudio’s stellar sounds, in “Walk Like a Man,” “Big Girls Don’t Cry,” “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You.” “Working My Way Back to You” and many more. Their singable quotient and incandescent beat raised the group’s sound several notches above the “ordinary.” It’s a story about the fleeting nature of fame and fortune, as four kids make good against all odds, through grit and the fabulous three-octave notes of Frankie Valli.
‘Jersey Boys’ nail nostalgia so well no one seems to care they are not the original Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons
What goes up doesn’t necessarily come down but, frankly, it often does, so it’s also a story of how Frankie, Nick, Tommy and Bob dealt with their sky-high but teetering fame and fortune.
See it or not: One British reviewer, who saw the musical when it first opened abroad, observed that the middle-aged audiences grooving at the show had apparently lost all memory of how old they were, and cared not at all that the performers were not the original Four, the show was that good. And it still is.
Highlights: Watch for the moment when the fledgling Four’s “sound” first comes together, after months of mediocre nights performing songs that never quite made it to memory. With Gaudio at the piano knocking out “Cry for Me,” Valli jumps in with his falsetto notes, while the other two grab guitars and punch in the new vibe.
Interesting fact: This production features a number of cast members who’ve performed in the Broadway, off-Broadway, Las Vegas or touring companies of the musical, including three of the four Jersey Boys: Nick Massi (played by Stephen Cerf), Tommy DeVito (Rory Max Kaplan) and Frankie Valli (Joey LaVarco). Music producer Bob Crewe is played by Barry Anderson, a six-year veteran of the Broadway show. Miles Aubrey, as loan shark Norm Waxman, played that role for nine years on Broadway, and took the role of arranger/composer Charlie Calello in the movie version of “Jersey Boys.”
Worth noting: It was fun to watch the audience barely staying in their seats, when really the only thing everyone wanted to do was get up and dance, as the newly christened Four Seasons exploded on stage with their brand-new hit “Sherry.”
One more thing: Director/choreographer Joyce Chittick is no stranger to Cape Cod or to Broadway. She directed the hit Playhouse production of “Grease” in 2022 and was principal choreographer for its blockbuster “South Pacific” (2018) and “A Chorus Line” (2019). Related Broadway credits include associate choreographer for the 2007 Broadway revival of “Grease,” and choreographer for the show’s national tour (2008). “Jersey Boys” is another keeper for her book of rave productions.
If you go: “Jersey Boys” is at Cape Playhouse, Route 6A, Dennis Village, through July 22. Performances are 7:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday, with 2 p.m. matinees on July 8, 12, 13, 19 and 20. Tickets: $54.50 to $104.50 including fees. Call the box office: 508-385-3911, or visit www.capeplayhouse.com
Barbara Clark
