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| - I'm 30. I had no idea what this show was about when my hubby suggested we go see it. We were both excited to see the show simply based on all the positive reviews it had received everywhere.
We arrived at the theater and the line people tried to take our photo, which we both resent (not photogenic, neither of us!). Luckily, they weren't pushy and let us by without stealing our souls. Inside, we were directed to our 'Po Folks' seats, which were kind of far back and very much to the the left... sound familiar? (Dirty joke.. my apologies)
The four rows behind us were empty for the most part, so as the show started, we left our crowded row and hopped to the one directly behind us. This little shuffle ended up causing my husband and I quite a bit of distress throughout the show, as a particular female usher in her 80s definitely noticed that the previously empty row now had to youngins' sitting in it illegally. She stood at the end of the row with her flashlight glaring on the row number for almost half the show. My husband and I both stared straight ahead, pretending not to notice her obvious behavior, but secretly dreaded the moment she approached us and demanded that we hop back into the assigned seats directly in front of us. Once we reached half time, she moved down a couple of rows and then seemed to spend the remainder of the show randomly flashing her little flashlight in peoples' faces as they watched the musical. It was odd.
As for the show itself- The beginning was a bit iffy. I didn't know what to expect, so I just sat and let the show wash over me. Unfortunately, it didn't wash over smoothly like water.. it was more like being slimed on Nickelodeon. It seemed that they really tried to pack in a LOT of information at the very onset, and it felt jumbled. I kept thinking "Okay, come on already, what's the story, what's. the. story??"
Then, before I even realized it was happening, things began to take shape. After several very corny and obvious one liner jokes, that the older folks LOVED btw, they introduced the most likable character in the story - the teenage prodigy (Short Shorts sensation) who seemed to be the catalyst for The Four Season's real and lasting success. This character had charm, was funny, goofy, lovable, humble, and intelligent. He was the hit-master behind everything (Sherry, Big Girls Don't Cry, Walk Like a Man, Can't Take My Eyes Off of You, etc etc) and provided some nice 'normal' comic relief. When I say normal, I mean compared to the thuggish "Hey, we're from Jeeeersey!" mob wannabes. It seems every guy in the group was in jail for some period of time. One guy pis*ed all their money away (and then some), one guy had a horribly unpleasant failed marriage, one guy seemed like a typical Jersey mobster jailbird stereotype, and the other guy was the kid prodigy.
In between being annoyed by the way the main character spoke, there were songs - gloriously toe-tap-worthy songs. The highlight of the show, for me, was the 10 seconds where the audience was offered a view from the other side of the stage - Meaning, we were transported to the back of the stage while the then popular singing sensation performed to thousands, so we got the performers' point of view. I'm sure that explanation is confusing, but if you see the show, you'll instantly know what I"m referring to. It was cool. That's all I have to say about that.
Turns out, even though I didn't know it before, I've always been a fan of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons. You probably are, too. They had a bunch of hits that I never attributed to them, and the show did a great job at setting the stage in terms of each song's inspiration. Did you know that the "Oh what a night, late December back in 63.." song was about the 20-something (?) prodigy losing his virginity? I didn't know that, either!!
Overall, you can expect corny Jersey accents, dancing/jumping/swooning girls, awesome men-group-dancing-in-a-line, triumph, sadness, defeat, comebacks, and, of course, Short Shorts, Sherry, Walk Like a Man, Big Girls Don't Cry, Let's Hang On, Can't Take My Eyes Off of You, Marianne, My Eyes Adored You, December, 1963 - Oh What a Night, Dawn, Rag Doll, Bye Bye Baby, and probably a few others that I don't recall. It's a fun time and it will make you wish you'd done something great and exciting with your life - on the other hand, no matter what you do with your life, everything is, and will always be, extremely fragile and fleeting.
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