Jersey Boys, the musical story of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, is back in Chicago at the Bank of America Theatre.
Jersey Boys, Frankie Valli, Bob Gaudio, Tommy DeVito and Nick Massi, young blue-collar gentlemen of the Garden State, working their way back to you, have returned to Chicago’s Bank of America Theatre for a nine-week stand.
Jersey Boys, coming on top of the initial Chicago run of a mere two-and-half years. And when you’re running that long in Chicago, where international tourists are thinner on the ground, you’re reaching a pretty hefty percentage of the local population.
So if you were one of the 1.3 million people who saw the theatrical story of Frankie Valli, Bob Gaudio, Tommy DeVito and Nick Massi during that 2007-10 engagement, and I bet you are, and you are contemplating another go-around with the sweetie who loves you, a big juicy steak on the town, and some bonding time with the big-ticket “Bye Bye Baby” boys, you’ll want to know if the national tour compares sufficiently favorably with the dedicated Chicago company not to let you and yours down.
Joseph Leo Bwarie, the current Frankie, is one of the premiere Frankies of the franchise, for this show, soon to also be a movie, is most certainly now a franchise. Especially when you see Bwarie alongside the apple-cheeked Preston Truman Boyd, who plays Gaudio, you think at first that you’re suddenly watching “Sons of Jersey Boys,” but baby-faced Bwarie is deceptive in the early scenes, because he knows how to show some steel and take command of the show. Bwarie, whose fine performance is enough to merit a return for fans of this show (note that he does not perform matinees), doesn’t rely on tricks so much as, simply put, a beautifully clear and pure voice. I was struck by how many people around me were closing their eyes when he sung, even though he is very easy on the eyes. Not all Frankies have provoked that desire to lose oneself in the vocals.
Other notable performances here include John Gardiner as an especially irritating DeVito, which I intend as a compliment, and Michael Lomenda as an especially strange Massi, ditto. The tempestuous scenes between Valli and his first wife, Mary Delgado (scenes that terrified the creators of this show) pop better here than I’ve ever seen them, thanks to a very shrewd and concise performance from Kara Tremel, a Jersey girl of distinction, even though it’s tough for a girl to get a look-in with this gig.
Read the complete review by Chris Jones, Theater critic {Via WGNRadio.com}
Jersey Boys performances at Bank Of America Theatre (formerly Lasalle Bank Theatre) continue through Sunday June 03, 2012. Buy Jersey Boys Chicago IL Tickets, Get $10 OFF on Orders of $350 or more by using code #SpringSavings at Checkout!
