Stage Review: 'Jersey Boys' gets standing ovation for feel-good evening

The slicked-up characters of "Jersey Boys" may be felonious or flawed, but the music is pitch-perfect and the pacing engages.

If “Jersey Boys” can’t get the job done here in the birthplace of rock ‘n’ roll, then Broadway may as well stop making musicals out of pop songs.

It’s not just that the show, which tells the detailed and often tumultuous story of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, is a knock-yer-socks-off hit production. Any fan of oldies will be satisfied by the music, served up with more choreography and flair than even the original band members had during their heyday.

The slicked-up characters of "Jersey Boys" may be felonious or flawed, but the music is pitch-perfect and the pacing engages.

No, the real genius of “Jersey Boys” becomes apparent at the end, when you’re invariably participating in the standing ovation. And you ask yourself, “Why does this show make me so happy?” The set is a skeleton of chain link fences and Jailhouse Rock stairs and platforms; most of the characters are felonious, foul-mouthed and flawed; and the story is as much tragedy as triumph.

How can all this possibly add up to a feel-good evening at the Orpheum theater?

Maybe those Tony Award voters who deemed “Jersey Boys” the best musical of 2005 were being generous to their neighbors across the river. Or maybe they were amazed that a musical can — ahem — walk like a man.

The plot unfolds from the viewpoints of each of the original members — the ones now in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Guitarist Tommy De Vito (played by Matt Bailey) narrates the early days, when the group was a street-corner pop act playing doo-wop covers such as “Earth Angel” or “Silhouettes.”

When singer/songwriter/keyboardist Bob Gaudio (Ryan Jesse) joins the group, their fortunes change. At 15, Gaudio already had a hit single under his belt, the tune “Short Shorts.” The lanky “genius” of the group brings his ear for melody, and around the 45-minute mark, the first notes of “Sherry” and “Big Girls Don’t Cry” finally end the suspense.

Here they are... The Four Seasons: hipster suits, perfectly knotted ties, hair slicked back, steely vocal harmonies that still send shivers down your spine.

By the time bass player Nick Massi (Steve Gouveia) tells his side of the story in the second act, the band is already in trouble. Tommy’s gambling addiction has put the group into debt. Valli’s marriage has fallen apart. Massi is discontented.

Finally, Valli takes his storytelling turn in the “winter” of the Four Seasons, when the original members have gone their separate ways. As Valli, Joseph Leo Bwarie fits the bill in physique, but most impressively, in voice. His rapturous falsetto will stun the most ardent fan of the group.

Even people who don’t normally appreciate musicals can groove to this one. The pace is fast, like a VH1 Behind the Music documentary, cutting to highlights while intelligently giving each character enough material to develop.

But the show is also a Four Seasons concert in disguise. Nearly every cast member, it seems, plays an instrument, making the orchestra pit obsolete. When the performers aren’t rocking their own guitars and basses live, their fellow actor-musicians are backing them up in the wings.

Some tunes, like “December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night!)” are used more traditionally, to forward the plot. Others stand out almost like a concert performance. During “Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You,” the famous brass section in the bridge of the song literally marches out onto the bridge over the stage. In a lesser version of the show, this spectacular musical moment might be the cue for dancers in tulle, explosions, confetti, a disco ball. But Valli stands alone, center stage, one man in the spotlight pouring his heart into your ears.

In an age when many throwaway pop singers prop up their music with spectacle or scandal, “Jersey Boys” reminds us why certain songs will still be bringing us joy for years to come.

“Jersey Boys”

The play continues through Feb. 14 at the Orpheum theater, 203 S. Main St. Shows are 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays, 8 p.m. Fridays, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturdays and 1:30 and 7 p.m. Sundays. Tickets are $28-$128. Call 525-3000.

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