OKLAHOMA CITY — It’s almost impossible now to recapture, or even to describe, the rapture and energy of 1960s pop culture, when R&B was giving way to rock-n-roll and kids in their teens and 20s were driving all sides of the music industry for the first time.
But “Jersey Boys” – the worldwide smash musical recounting the true tale of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons – doesn’t need to describe it. It just makes you feel it.
In a brand new, first-ever production of the hit show by OKC’s Lyric Theatre, that energy is on full, electrifying display, blasting through a breakneck pace that most shows can’t even pretend to keep up with, an energy that could only come from the passion and intensity of youth.
And that’s all down to the songs.
The idea of the “jukebox musical” has been around for a long while now, filling out a theatrical musical production with number after number of recognizable pop hits and radio classics. It’s an easy way to fill out a show and to get excitement from audiences that maybe don’t think they like traditional show tunes.
But I’ll be honest, it usually just feels cheap.
More often than not, these jukebox musicals (even the most popular and beloved) are just a loosely connected, razor-thin plot used as an excuse to shoehorn as many hit songs as possible into a show, often with little more than a threadbare connective tissue to the songs chosen.
But let there be no mistake here: “Jersey Boys” is not that.
Every time that someone wants to stage a musical filled to bursting with the songs of a famous group or artist, they should look to this show for how to do it.
The story through song
Rather than using the dizzying number of classics and hits of The Four Seasons as an easy accompaniment to some unrelated story, “Jersey Boys” is using the songs to tell the story of the guys that made them.
It feels less like any other jukebox musical, and more like a genuine, heartfelt biography, the story of four friends together, singing, writing, and pushing themselves to be the best.
It’s a story familiar to anyone who’s ever been in a band, and probably to anyone who’s ever just had a group of friends that felt so close and so purposeful and eventually so far away when money and family and mistakes and life all got in the way.
Granted, in the Four Seasons’ case, a lot of the money and mistakes involved either the Mafia or the millions-selling hit singles.
But no matter how big, how wild, or how mob-connected the world of the real Four Seasons ever grew, the show keeps the focus on the bond and the brotherhood of the four guys at its center, with each taking their turn at the narration and their own memories.
Throughout, the songs never feel forced or unearned or included only for fan service. Each new song is a part of the story and the history and the mile-a-minute pace, even as they fly at you continuously, even relentlessly at times.
Seriously. There are a lot of songs in “Jersey Boys,” nearly forty, in fact. The song list in the book is two pages long.
And while you may not recognize every single song, the odds are good that you’ll recognize most, no matter what generation you come from.
“Sherry,” “Big Girls Don’t Cry,” “Walk Like a Man,” and “December 1963 (Oh, What a Night)” are all songs from the real Four Seasons that have left an indelible stamp on pop culture. And inclusions like “Earth Angel,” “My Boyfriend’s Back,” and “Stay” all add to the story and the world of 1960s pop.
And then of course there’s the big, bring-the-house-down moment when Frankie Valli finally unveils his solo showstopper, the absolutely immortal “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You,” perhaps one of the most perfect and eternal pieces of pop music ever written.
Lyric’s lead nails Valli’s style
Of course, as Valli had one of the most singular and unmistakable singing voices in pop history, “Jersey Boys” simply can’t work without a lead that can pull off those vocals.
Any production has to be built around a singer that can reach that nearly impossibly high-pitched falsetto that was Valli’s signature sound and still pull off the growth from naïve kid singer to mature, increasingly lonely superstar.
To think that all of that has been captured so beautifully and pitch-perfectly by a 20-year-old OU student is almost unbelievable, but the young Manny Tijerina blows the roof off the Civic Center with every song and every fist on the table.
Opening Night of the show was actually Tijerina’s birthday, and I can’t imagine any better gift than the reaction from the audience each time he belted and crooned.
It’s honestly easy to see him heading to Broadway after graduation and leading a new revival of the show to rave reviews. He feels born to play and sing this role.
But any Frankie Valli is also only as good as his other three Seasons, and Tijerina’s co-leads all crushed their roles as well.
The other three ‘Seasons’
Trace Benton Burchart beams throughout as “the genius” Bob Gaudio and Jackson Barnes brings some genuine heart to the quietly odd Nicky Massi, imbuing the bassist with far more than just the comedy on the character’s surface.
But Sean McGee may well have been the breakout performance of Opening Night as the irrepressible Tommy DeVito, the group’s original, volatile, incorrigible leader.
As the show’s first narrator and the character tasked with ushering you into the world of 50s and 60s New Jersey, McGee oozes charisma and unpredictable charm, playing both comedy and danger often simultaneously and always believably balanced.
Can’t miss show!
This show, and this production, is a can’t-miss for music fans.
Older theatergoers will no doubt be roused to clapping and seat-dancing with each and every song throughout. Younger audiences will feel the passion and intensity of the emotions and the youth and the fragile bonds of friendship explored.
And everyone, no matter what age, will be singing along.
“Jersey Boys,” presented by Lyric Theatre, runs now through July 14th at Civic Center Music Hall as part of Lyric’s Summer Season at Civic Center.
For showtimes, tickets, and more information, visit lyrictheatreokc.com and okcciviccenter.com.
Brett Fieldcamp is our Arts and Entertainment Editor. He has been covering arts, entertainment, news, housing, and culture in Oklahoma for 15+ years, writing for several local and state publications. He’s also a musician and songwriter and holds a certification as Specialist of Spirits from The Society of Wine Educators.
