Jersey Boys Review: Oh, What A Night!

Jersey Boys is no stranger to Atlanta. More than 90,000 theatre goers saw the musical last time it came through town in 2009. This time around the musical is back for a three week engagement at the Fox Theatre, and I encourage you to get tickets while you can!

If you aren’t familiar with the tale that Jersey Boys tells then you’re in for a pleasant surprise about how the legendary group, The Four Seasons (Frankie Valli, Bob Gaudio, Tommy DeVito and Nick Massi), came to be. From the wrong side of the tracks to the biggest American pop music sensation of their time, there were plenty of challenges that this group faced on their way to selling 175 million records worldwide. With a unique sound and songs that weren’t fabricated for them (as they are for so many pop artists today), it’s not hard to see why the world fell in love with them.

The Four Seasons were a little before my time, so I wasn’t aware that so many of the songs I had heard throughout my life were actually accredited to them. When the play opens, we’re in the year 2000, and the song “Oh, What A Night” is playing. A song that I distinctly remember from that year, from a WB promotional campaign featuring some of the biggest teen stars of the day. I had no idea that this song was actually first recorded decades earlier, and thus my musical education for the night began…

While all of the cast performances were superb, it was Brad Weinstock as Frankie Valli that truly stole the show for me. Weinstock comes to this show from the Vegas production of Jersey Boys and sounds so remarkably similar to Valli that it’s almost eerie. The audience certainly appreciated his sound as well as Weinstock received multiple standing ovations from audience members throughout the night. This is not to diminish the work of the rest of the cast though. Jason Kappus, Colby Foytik and Brandon Andrus also do an incredible job, and when all four are singing together… the performance is magical.

Jersey Boys is playing at The Fox Theater in Atlanta through June 10th. Get tickets while you can! For more information, visit www.JerseyBoysTour.com or www.broadwayinatlanta.com.

Review By: Emma Loggins
Photo Credit: Joan Marcus