by Lorie Lewis Ham
This past weekend I had the pleasure of being at Selma Arts Center for opening night of Jersey Boys, which is the Valley premiere of this show. I had seen the touring show and the movie, and couldn’t wait to see this production.
Jersey Boys is a jukebox musical with a book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice. It is presented in a documentary-style format that dramatizes the formation, success, and breakup of the 1960s rock ‘n’ roll group The Four Seasons. The show premiered on Broadway in 2005. Even if you aren’t familiar with the show, you might recognize some of the famous songs in it such as “Big Girls Don’t Cry”, “Walk Like a Man”, and “Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You.” The beautiful four-part harmony, the amazing voices, and fun songs, make for a wonderful night of musical theatre! The story is also very interesting as these four “Jersey Boys” go from singing under a streetlight to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame!
Cast of “Jersey Boys”
For this show to work, you have to cast four amazing singers and Selma has done that in spades! The four gentlemen I saw are very talented singers and actors. The role of Frankie Valli is double cast (I don’t know if this is due to schedule conflicts or how incredibly demanding the role is vocally). I saw Thomas Hayes perform the role and I swear you could have closed your eyes and thought you were listening to Frankie himself. I am sure Adrian Ammso will do just as well. Thomas is on stage the first and third weekend, and Adrian on the second and fourth.
Thomas Hayes (Frankie Valli)
Thomas is surrounded by talent as well. Jonathan Wheeler is a very experienced actor/singer, having played such roles as Huey Calhoun in Memphis, Clyde Barrow in Bonnie & Clyde, and Marius in Les Misérables. He too has a beautiful and powerful voice and did a wonderful job of bringing to life the rough around-the-edges self-named leader of the Four Seasons, Tommy DeVito. This was my first time seeing Tristan Beck on stage, but I look forward to seeing more of him. He plays the bass of the group, the loveable and funny Nick Massi, and was a perfect fit for this role. Sean Hopper fills out the quartet as Bob Gaudio, the tenor and songwriter of the group. Gaudio was also the guiding force behind the musical. I have always enjoyed seeing Sean on stage (and he is a regular actor for our podcast Mysteryrat’s Maze), he is a talented actor and singer, but I would have to say that this was his best performance so far! He knocked it out of the park with one of my favorite songs of the show “Oh What A Night.” They all did an amazing job!
Jonathan Wheeler (Tommy DeVito)
Joseph Hill was hilarious as music producer Bob Crewe, and Avalon Lane was hilarious as Joey Pesci, and both played several characters throughout the show. Several other actors play various roles, and Noah Villaverde gets the chance to show off his vocal chops as well.
Sean Hopper (Bob Gaudio)
This is a can’t miss show! Awesome cast, interesting story, amazing music, and director Ben Sells pulls it all together perfectly. Vocal director Terry Lewis also deserves kudos for doing such a great job with some demanding music.
Tristan Beck (Nick Massi)
There are 3 weekends left to see Jersey Boys and I hear tickets are going fast so don’t miss your chance. Tickets can be purchased on the Selma Arts Center website and the show plays through June 29 at 1935 High St, Selma, CA.
All photos provided by The Selma Arts Center.
Check out more local entertainment articles in our Arts & Entertainment section. And don’t miss out on Mysteryrat’s Maze Podcast where we feature mystery stories read by local actors!
0 Comments