Jersey Boys @ The Regent theatre- Review

“Oh what a night”

Jersey Boys, the Story of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice, Music by Bob Gaudio and Lurics by Bob Crewe is showing at the Regent Theatre, Hanley, Stoke on Trent until Saturday 19th of February.

This is the story of four young men who started out friends and ended up in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. This show has got everything, amazing vocals, brilliant choreography and a fabulous cast. The music just lifts you up and makes you smile.

From the first note of music to the last my feet were tapping along. The rapturous applause after each song shows I wasn’t the only one enjoying it. It wasn’t just polite applause either it was genuine appreciation for the talent on stage.

The cast of Michael Pickering as Frankie Valli, Blair Gibson as Bob Gaudio, Dalton Wood as Tommy Devito and Lewis Griffiths as Nick Massi have incredible talent and stamina as they sing and dance their way through the show, which also included the iconic footwork of the Four Seasons during Walk Like A Man. Their vocals were faultless and you could hear a pin drop when Michael Pickering sang ‘Can’t Take My Eyes Off You’ and the applause was endless and very well deserved.

The supporting cast are all multi talented actors, dancers and musicians and it was a lovely to see that the cast also played the instruments live.

I do have to mention George Salmon as Joe Pesci and Michael Levi as Bob Crewe, both gave excellent performances.

This show details the trials, tribulations, ups and downs, and sheer hard work they went through to get the success they had. It tells the story from the four different perspectives of each member of the group.

I would advise caution against taking small children as some of the language can be ‘of the street’ shall we say and there are some profanities used. But this is a real story about real people who grew up in New Jersey with some dubious contacts, to say the least.

At the centre of the story though is no matter what happens you stick by your friends and there is a code which you abide by.

The Four Seasons had a sound all of their very own partly due to the incredible vocal talent of Frankie Valli and the songwriting ability of Bob Gaudio and the songs are still played daily all over the world.

The music of Frankie Valli and the four Seasons is timeless and I am sure the audience could have sat for hours just listening to the cast singing their songs, I know I could, I was singing all the way home.

This is not just for recycled teenagers like me, it will appeal to anyone who enjoys great vocals and great music. I would highly recommend popping along to watch it, tickets are available from here