Review: Tweed & Company Theatre's Presentation of JERSEY BOYS

Tweed & Company Theatre’s presentation of Jersey Boys at the Bancroft Village Playhouse is the perfect summer show; a jukebox musical full of catchy hits from The Four Seasons. Even though you may already know and love the music, with songs like “Sherry”, “(Oh, What a Night)”, and “Big Girls Don’t Cry”, you may not know the story of the people behind the band. Frankie Valli (Niko Combitsis) is the most recognizable name of the quartet since, in recent years, he has been the face of the band now known as “Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons”. But the other three group members, Bob Gaudio (Griffin Hewitt), Tommy DeVito (William Lincoln), and Nick Massi (Mayson Sonntag), had equally important roles in the band’s evolution, each with their own unique contributions. All four characters are flawed and Jersey Boys doesn’t back away from exposing those flaws.

The stage at the Bancroft Village Playhouse is extremely low to the ground, making it necessary to utilize some of the auditorium space as an extension of the stage. The stage itself is relatively barren, with a scaffold splitting the small stage into two levels. The use of props is also limited, leaving much of the detail up to the imagination of the audience. When performing, the band wears their signature style of matching outfits, and the supporting cast embodies multiple roles by doing quick and simple costume and wig changes (costumes by Jocelyn Perry). The lighting design (Gareth Edwards) is very effective, especially when used to spotlight the band on stage or used for dramatic effect.

Unfortunately, there were several sound issues during the show. At the beginning, the music overpowered the background narrative given by Lincoln, which made the dialogue hard to follow. That issue was rectified relatively quickly, but other microphone issues continued to intermittently plague the cast.

Combitsis’ vocals are well suited to Valli’s unique pitch, and it this a role he has performed many times, but he was a little inconsistent during the performace I saw. Lincoln acts sufficiently self-absorbed as Tommy and I enjoyed Sonntag’s portrayal of Nick, who is probably the most overlooked member of the band. But it is Hewitt who steals the show as Gaudio, with the perfect blend of naïveté, charm, and ambition. All four cast members' vocals harmonize beautifully into the infamous sound for which The Four Seasons are renowned.  At times, the audience genuinely feels as though they have been transported back in time to be given a glimpse of how it must have been to experience a concert at the peak of the group's success.

The ensemble cast is strong in this production, with particularly impressive performances by Liam Crober-Best as Joey, Gabi Epstein as Mary Delgado, and Michelle Yu as Lorraine.