Since it opened in late 2006 to critical acclaim, smash hit Broadway musical “Jersey Boys” has charmed countless theatergoers with its great songs and compelling story. It’s won Tony Awards, was adopted into a movie and lasted for more than 40 seasons on Broadway. While nobody ever thought that it would close, it looks like that day is finally coming. January 15, 2017, to be exact. There’s still some time to catch the show if you haven’t seen it yet, but that ending date reminds us that even the most popular shows don’t last forever.
By the time it ends, Jersey Boys will have played 4,462 performances, making it the 12th longest-running Broadway show of all time. Although four longer-running Broadway shows are still playing (Phantom of the Opera, Chicago, Lion King and Wicked), that’s still pretty impressive, especially when you consider that more than 400 Broadway shows have opened and closed during Jersey Boys’ tenure. Not only that, but as one of the first (and arguably best) of Broadway’s “Jukebox musicals”, it’s also incredibly influential. Presented as though the Four Seasons were singing in concert, it breaks one of the fundamental rules of musicals: that the songs need to express the inner thoughts of characters and/or drive the plot. Yet despite breaking such rules, or perhaps because of it, the show worked, and set the standard for every other jukebox musical since.
Before “Beatlemania” hit the shores of the US, the Four Seasons were the most popular band in the US. Featuring a group of blue-collar Italian-American kids from New Jersey, they took the country by storm when they were first founded in 1960, with hits such as “Sherry”, “Walk Like a Man” and “Who Loves You?”. Jersey Boys chronicles their story, from obscurity to superstardom, then from falling out of fame to getting their groove back. It’s a great story and a great show, filled with great songs and wonderful pageantry. If you haven’t seen it yet, then you don’t want to lose your chance!
richardaquilone 