They’ve gone around the world. From Broadway to London’s West End theaters and scores of stops in between. Now the rollicking story of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons is back in New Jersey at the Tony Award winning Paper Mill Playhouse. Running from Oct. 2 through Nov. 3, Paper Mill Playhouse continues its 86-year mission to bring Broadway quality theater to New Jersey and beyond. The first show on opened on Nov. 14, 1938 and continued its nearly nine decades of quality productions, even bringing a Tony Award to the theater.
And now “Jersey Boys” is returning to its namesake state. The show is directed by Michael Bello who did the Jersey Boys tour in both the U.S. and the U.K. He also was associate director for “The Who’s Tommy.” The cast is stellar with Daniel Quadrino as Frankie Valli. Earlier, he also appeared in “Newsies”. Ben Diamond as Bob Gaudio also appeared in “Newsies”; Robert Lenzi, as Nick Massi; who counts “The Tina Turner Musical” in his credits; Nick Duckart, who appeared in a favorite of this writer, “Come From Away”. The rest of the cast has, as well, a stellar list of credits to their resumés. Mark S. Hoebee, Paper Mills producing artistic director, commented “To our great pride, our four guys under a street lamp will be the first homegrown Jersey Boys production in the state of New Jersey. “Oh, what a night it will be.”
The music will be familiar to all in the audience as are the characters in the show. It will go from the group getting together, disputes amongst them and adding a touch of melodrama with some gangsters thrown in, for effect. But throughout the songs everyone has come to know and love will be the central focus, adding to the members of the” Four Seasons”. The music will evoke the golden days of rock ‘n roll and the character of the Four Seasons will come alive on the stage.
The book follows the evolution of the group, a bunch of blue-collar Jersey kids, who,
following their dream, became one of the most iconic pop-music groups. “Jersey Boys” follows the four boys and their creative music, a 40-year friendship that stood the test of time
and some conflict as they grew, growing from the streets of the Garden State to the top of the pop music charts and a huge following of loyal fans.
The audience will immediately recognize their popular songs such as “Sherry”, “Big Girls Don’t Cry”, “Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You”, “Dawn”, and “My Eyes Adore You”. For those who enjoyed the Four Seasons in their hey-day, it will be a trip back in time. For those enjoying
the group for the first time, it will offer the opportunity to understand why their parents loved the groups and its music.
Coming up as the year goes on: Nov. 27-Dec. 29-Irving Berlin’s “White Christmas”
Jan. 29-Feb. 23, 2025 A new musical, “Mystic Pizza”
March 29-April 27, 2025 A World Premier show “Take The Lead”
Closing the season from May 29-June 29, 2025 will be Disney’s “Little Mermaid”
Information and tickets are available on the Paper Mill Playhouse website
Photos are courtesy of Paper Mill Playhouse unless otherwise noted.
Splash Magazines
Be the first to comment