Jersey Boys

My heart almost broke when the guy plying Franki Valli sang “My Eyes Adored You”. It’s a song I haven’t heard in years and had almost completely forgot existed. And then when it came on, I was transported back in time…

My eyes adored you
Though I never laid a hand on you,
My eyes adored you
Like a million miles away from me you couldn’t see
How I adored you:
So close, so close and yet so far

I’m not sure if it’s the lyrics or the melody or a combination of the two, but it’s such a wonderful heartfelt song.

Another of my all time favourite songs is “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You”.

You’re just too good to be true.
Can’t take my eyes off you.
You’d be like Heaven to touch.
I wanna hold you so much.
At long last love has arrived
And I thank God I’m alive.
You’re just too good to be true.
Can’t take my eyes off you.

“I can sing it in Swedish”, I told me friend Colin at half-time, remembering the cover version recorded by Anni-Frid Lyngstad (Frida) from ABBA.

And that’s the thing about Jersey Boys that makes it such a great piece of musical theatre – it has great music. Although we both quite enjoyed sseing Hairpsray the other night, one of that shows great weaknesses was the lack of memorable tunes. In contrast, Jersey Boys is full of memorable tunes.

The show also has a really great stoy. “You care about the characters”, I said to Colin at intermission. Even though theirs was an extraordinary story, there was something about the “ordinary beginnings” and “human frailties” (the gambling, the temptations) that made the story of The Four Seasons such a great focus for a musical.

Although we didn’t have the “main bloke” playing the role of Frank Valli, his standby was very very good. In fact, the whole male cast was excellent. The female roles, in contrast, are very secondary to the story and the to show. You could almost have written their parts out, though they were obviously still important to overall story.

As far as “hits and memories musicals” are concerned, this was in a whole different class to many of the others. This wasn’t just a string of hits loosely weaved around a story, as many of the other musicals of that genre have become, this is a genuinely meaningful story with genuinely good songs. Terrific stuff!!