"Jersey Boys" brings the music of The Four Seasons to Las Vegas
There’s a time for new beginnings and growth, a time for sun and “heat,” a time when one sees friends' colors turn, a time when all seems cold and bleak. That’s the saga of The Four Seasons, at least as viewed nightly at the Palazzo in “Jersey Boys,” which has been playing to enthusiastic crowds at the hotel Spring, Fall, Summer, and Winter since April 2008.
The group that began on a street corner in New Jersey and culminated in one of the most popular rock ‘n roll groups in musical history, with more than 175 million records sold, embodies a story that has all the aspects that audiences can relate to. The Four Seasons – Frankie Valli (Rick Faugno), Bob Gaudio Erich Bergen), Tommy DeVito (Deven May) and Nick Massi (Jeff Leibow) – all had very universal human needs. They wanted to belong; they wanted to win; they wanted to be respected; they wanted a home. Along their journey, they did well, they screwed up, and, in the process, they created some humorous moments.
“Doing this show has been one of my biggest challenges professionally,” admits Faugno, “The story is so deep. I’ve been doing ‘Jersey Boys’ for three years and have been playing Frankie since the day the show opened at the Palazzo and just when you think you’ve discovered something, you see that there’s so much more to discover.”
As co-writer of the show Rick Elice noted, everyone knows the group’s songs but before “Jersey Boys,” no one knew their story. And it is a story that has it all – love and hate, the mob and music and money, revenge and betrayal, wives, other people’s wives, children and family, and humor.
It all began in 1960 when the group known as The Four Lovers evolved into The Four Seasons, with Valli as the lead singer, Gaudio on keyboards and tenor vocals, DeVito on lead guitar and baritone vocals, and Massi on bass guitar and bass vocals (Massi was replaced in 1965 by Charles Calello, who was in turn was replaced later in 1965 by Joe Long on bass guitar and bass vocals).
The group has been known off and on since 1967 as Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons (although not shown that way on any of their hit records) due to the release of “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You,” which was considered Valli’s entrance into the solo market. However, The Four Seasons were still backing him up at that time and it wasn’t until 1971 when DeVito left the group that Valli went solo in reality.
Touted by the Vocal Group Hall of Fame to be the most popular white rock band before the Beatles, The Four Seasons put out such hits as “Sherry,” “Big Girls Don’t Cry,,” “December 1963 (Oh, What a Night),” “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” and numerous others.
- by Bobbie Katz, Las Vegas Reporter for HelloMetro
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