It’s taken over twenty years for Jersey Boys to make it from Broadway to National Tour to its Long Beach Regional Premiere, but the sensational production Musical Theatre West is now treating its audiences to makes it well worth the two-decade wait.

 You’d have to have been living under a rock not to know that the 13th-longest-running show in Broadway history recounts the true-life story of pop legends The Four Seasons with a few dozen Top Forty smashes thrown in for zing, most of them performed precisely as the Seasons did themselves throughout the 1960s—in recording studios, clubs, and concerts, and on one TV variety show after another.

Book writers Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice divide the musical into its own four seasons, recounted Rashomon-style by group members Tommy DeVito (Anthony Carro), Nick Massi (Grant Hodges), Bob Gaudio (Taubert Nadalini), and the one-and-only Frankie Valli (Nicholas Alexander).

 Thus we first get Tommy’s spin on the pop quartet’s start (including Tommy and his brother’s multiple albeit relatively brief incarcerations and their mob connection with mafia boss Gyp DeCarlo), followed by The Gospel According To Bob, the songwriting genius whose melodies were a key factor in The Four Seasons’ rise to stardom.

Nick assumes the narration post-intermission, with Frankie at last taking over to recount the events leading up to his solo stardom and beyond.

 And since Jersey Boys doesn’t flinch from the dark side of the group’s success, the decision to end Act One with a dramatic cliffhanger rather than the great big production number that precedes it is a savvy reminder that Jersey Boys is ultimately the real-life tale of four boys from Jersey, warts and all.

And what a treat Musical Theatre West audiences are in for as director T.J. Dawson puts his own inspired stamp on a show most SoCal theatergoers have seen staged basically the same way since 2004.

 Not that there was anything wrong with the Broadway original, but one of the joys of regional theater is seeing shows through visionary new eyes like Dawson’s.

And just wait until you catch a glimpse of Stephen Gifford’s innovative set design, one that eschews the original’s LED comic-book projections for a more realistic albeit still flashy look, one that will have you feeling you’re seeing Jersey Boys for the very first time.

Not only are the Seasons’ signature harmonies every bit as gorgeously performed in Long Beach as the original pop quartet’s were (music by Gaudio, lyrics by Bob Crewe), rarely has a musical offered four meatier acting roles than Jersey Boys’ Frankie, Bob, Tommy, and Nick, and with Dawson directing monolog and dialog sequences as he would in a straight play, his four leads reveal dramatic chops to match their vocal prowess.

San Diego theater favorite Alexander makes an auspicious “up north” debut as Frankie, immediately endearing audiences with his boyish charm while wowing them with his close-your-eyes-and-it’s-Frankie falsetto pipes, and as the premier Season matures into married, then divorced father of a troubled teen, Alexander’s performance rises to a whole new level of stunning.

And Seasons Two, Three, and Four prove themselves every bit as accomplished as singers and powerful as actors.

 Nadalini convinces us from the get-go in Bob’s innate goodness, his drive, and his songwriting genius; Carro’s seductive good looks camouflage the cockiest Season’s gambling addiction while making it clear just how easy it is for him to cheat on both friends and lovers; and a revelatory Hodges vanishes into Nick’s tough-but-tenderhearted Jersey Boy skin as the glue that holds the group together.

 Supporting players undertake multiple roles in addition to the main role each one is assigned, which is why Johnny DiGiogio’s cutthroat Norm Waxman, Marlana Dunn’s increasing angry and frustrated Mary Delgado, Michael Ray Fisher’s angelic-voiced Hal Miller, Skylar Gaines’ theatrical-as-Liberace Bob Crewe, Giovanna Martinez’s heartbreakingly lost Francine, Mel Mehrabian’s era-defying career journalist Lorraine, Donovan Mendelovitz’s adorably pugnacious Joey (later to become Joe Pesci), Elijah Munck’s pair of Seasons, one original and one a replacement, Dominic Pace’s mafioso-with-a-heart Gyp DeCarlo, and Dayna Sauble’s The Angels’ lead singer are just the tip of the acting-singing iceberg where these costume-and-wig-changing triple-threats are concerned. (The addition of one more female actor to the original Broadway threesome is another inspired Dawson touch.)

Choreographer Dana Solimando does a fabulous job recreating the boy-and-girl-group moves that were de rigueur in the 1960s, accompanied by associate music director Anthony Zediker and the show’s rocking-&-rolling band.

 Adam Ramirez’s spot-on costumes (from mid-20th-century everyday wear to showbiz glitz), Jean-Yves Tessier’s pizzazzy lighting, Kirklyn Robinson’s era-perfect hair and wig designs, and Melanie Cavaness and Gretchen Morales’s abundance of period props complement Gifford’s groundbreaking scenic design to stunning effect, though unfortunately Alena Milos’s sound design suffered repeated glitches on opening night.

Joe Abraham is swing and dance captain. Lyndon Pugeda is music director. Jon Infante is projection designer.

Jersey Boys is produced by Paul Garman. Bren Thor is associate producer. Jill Gold is production stage manager and Julian Olive and Miranda Vasquez are assistant stage managers. Jim Thomas Mora is technical director. Cat Fox-Uruburu is production manager.

It seemed for a good long while there that the only Jersey Boys American audiences were ever going to see was the Broadway tour that just kept on touring and touring and touring. Musical Theatre West audiences can rejoice that the wait is at long last over.

Musical Theatre West, Richard and Karen Carpenter Performing Arts Center, 6200 Atherton St., Long Beach. Through March 2. Fridays at 8:00, Saturdays at 2:00 and 8:00, and Sundays at 1:00. Also Thursday February 20 at 7:30 and Sunday February 23 at 6:00.
www.musical.org

–Steven Stanley
February 15, 2025
Photos from MTW Promotional Video

Tags: Bob Crewe, Bob Gaudio, Frankie Valli, Los Angeles Theater Review, Marshall Brickman, Musical Theatre West, Rick Elice