by Marshall Brickman & Rick Elice
Directed by Des McAnuff
A DanCap Presentation
at the Toronto Centre for the Performing Arts
Open Run

  The hit musical about the Four Seasons continues its sensational run in Toronto but now has more Canadians in it than before. And based on the opening night reaction to these Canucks (January 20, 2009), there’s no reason to think that the show won’t keep running for ages. Though Matthew Brown is almost unintelligible as the French rap star in Paris, he makes good as Barry Belson. Shawn Wright, who plays Bob Crewe and others, has a sharp sense of satire. And I can trumpet the debut of Jeff Madden as Frankie Valli, because if there is any justice in this country as far as star-making is concerned, this performance should make the slight-framed Madden a true-blue Canadian musical star. Madden has the sexy dark look of Valli in his prime, and though his acting is sometimes stiff, his voice is his fortune, mimicking Valli’s sensational falsetto immaculately, and bringing the audience to its feet with roaring approval, especially in such numbers as “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love,” “I’m In The Mood For Love,” “Sherry,” “Walk Like A Man,” and “My Eyes Adored You.” He sounds bruised in “Bye Bye Baby” as his marriage is falling apart, and he is heartbreaking in “Fallen Angel”—his ballad to the memory of his ill-fated daughter. He gets excellent support, of course, from the trio of Michael Lomenda (a solid, if colourless Nick Massi), Quinn VanAntwerp (a baby-faced Bob Gaudio), and Jeremy Kushnier (a suave Tommy DeVito), but he is superb on his own. Kushnier’s Tommy is, perhaps, the showiest role, and the actor is on cruise control throughout, easily suggesting the roguish charm, the dark underside, and the massive ego of DeVito. Kushnier’s obvious stage presence and snappy confidence are undeniably strong, but when Madden sings, you feel a new star is being created before your eyes.

   Des McAnuff’s slick production shows few wrinkles. McAnuff knows how to dress every scene, though the wandering ghost of Francine through the rendition of “Fallen Angel” is an unnecessary distraction. The ensemble never gets in McAnuff’s way, though Lindsay Thomas is too ripe for Francine. Jenny Lee Stern’s feisty, lusty Mary Delgado, however, makes up for this by being a strong foil to Madden’s Valli. The show moves assuredly and though it is episodic, the scenes are never dull even when they are underwritten. The set is a double proscenium, inside of which are a catwalk and staircase. Video (Roy Lichenstein Pop Art and documentary footage) embellish the narrative, and Howell Binkley’s lighting matches colour washes to moods (green for jealousy, blue for melancholy, red for sex), with the main palette shifting at the end to black, white, and blue. There is a tickertape quality in much of the narration (shared by the famous quartet, but principally delivered by DeVito), and the dialogue is often bare bones. However, the show’s storyline spans many years, encompassing the group’s rise to fame, off-stage acrimony and personal woes, the group’s breakup, and then the big reunion for their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

   The libretto airs its songs chiefly as rehearsals, performances, or recording sessions rather than as independent numbers. Serge Trujillo’s choreography is cleverly utilitarian for the most part, capturing the cheesy or corny movements for ensemble ballads, but exploding into some spectacular movement for DeVito and Valli in Las Vegas. The Jersey Boys does not represent an artistic advance in Broadway musicals because it is merely a step or two higher than a jukebox musical, but its deft showmanship and glorious music are bliss, indeed, and now with a Canadian making like a genuine musical star, it’s quite an achievement.

photos: Joan Marcus

pic 1: (L-R) Michael Lomenda (Nick Massi), Jeremy Kushnier (Tommy DeVito),
                 Jeff Madden (Frankie Valli), Quinn VanAntwerp (Bob Gaudio)

pic 2: (L-R) Quinn VanAntwerp, Jeremy Kushnier, Michael Lomenda, and Jeff Madden  


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