Theater Review: Jersey Boys

By Peter Mavrik in Arts & Entertainment on Oct 16, 2007 3:20PM

After a wildly successful run on Broadway that received 8 Tony nominations and 4 wins, including best musical, Jersey Boys toured the country before arriving in Chicago for a six-month stint down at The LaSalle Bank Theatre.

Jersey Boys is a greatest-hits tour through the successes and hardships of The Four Seasons. The show is a big and beautiful example of all the glitz and glamor that Broadway cooks up these days.

Part concert, part loosely-bound band biography, Jersey Boys is targeted directly at The Four Seasons' fan base. Much the same way Mamma Mia strung together the songs of ABBA, Jersey Boys left us wanting more story and less pop. But that didn't matter to the fans, who seemed to adore actor Jarrod Spector, who has the voice and looks to pull off a flawless Valli. Our audience was on its feet multiple times during the evening.

We were puzzled how this show beat out The Color Purple at the Tonys. We're not knocking the show. It's a top-notch production with a great visual impact. But contrary to most of the buzz we heard, you should go see this production to sing along with the past. Just don't expect the moments between songs to feel like much more than filler.

Images via Jersey Boys National Tour.