Jersey Boys

MANY a community theatre company would have shuddered when even considering a production of Jersey Boys because it represents three golden challenges: plot, staging and casting. However, against all odds Townsville’s NQOMT production met these challenges with more than equanimity in its first post-COVID foray.

It is interesting to see a number of community theatre companies around Australia are tackling this musical now that the rights have been released. However, it isn’t an easy one to pull off successfully. It has an amazing pedigree with four Tony Awards on Broadway and an Olivier Award for Best Musical, and Clint Eastwood’s somewhat disappointing film. But therein lies a conundrum. How then does one live up to the expectation generated by that string of awards?  

Remember this is a jukebox musical – a term we now give to a string of artist- or composer-related songs which tell the story of that artist or composer’s life. This popular sub-genre of contemporary musicals taps into generational memory guaranteed to get audiences singing along, tapping toes, clapping along and generally enjoying the journey into memory. And this production achieved just that.

But, what about those three challenges – enough to detract many a faint-hearted presenter?

The action – divided appropriately enough into four seasons – is narrated through the eyes of the four members of the original group:  Frankie Valli (Johnathon Coco), Tommy DeVito (Samuel Stewart), Bob Gaudio (Mark Whittaker) and Nick Massi (Luke Reynolds). This device of breaking “the fourth wall” and talking directly to the audience works well to link what is essentially a series of jerky, almost cinematic scenes interspersed with songs from The Four Seasons’ lexicon.

This could make it a difficult show to make sense of and could also be described as its central flaw - or strength - dependent on one’s point of view. Director Kylie Tillack worked with this to ultimately produce a pacey show which did not let up from start to finish. It was also clear that she had tackled it by developing on the relationships between the characters to flesh out a skeletal plot - in other hands this might have descended into an excuse for a mere concert of music by The Four Seasons.  This production was anything but!

The cinematic quality of the plot presented significant hurdles when staging the production, and the unadorned set was suitably functional to effectively highlight the one single thing that carried the production – the talent.

And then we come to casting. I have to say that I was blown away with some of the most remarkable musical talent I have seen on a local stage for some time. The casting of the four men is central to the success (or otherwise) of the production, and as if the demands presented in the acute harmonies that were such a signature of The Four Seasons should be enough, add to this the casting of Frankie Valli, whose powerful falsetto voice was the group’s trademark. Performing in that range is difficult (and sometimes dangerous), and sustaining it over a three-hour or so period requires enormous stamina from the actor.  Hats off to Johnathon Coco for a vocal performance that was so remarkable that I could have closed my eyes and believed it was Valli himself. His challenge will be to look after his voice over the next few weeks of the run.

Great attention was paid to developing the characters of the four men – all from the wrong side of the tracks in New Jersey (hence the title). They are so different in character and all excelled in their own particular ways, balancing the “act” so that all were presented on an equal footing. The singing from these four men was impeccable, and they never faltered once.

Coco as Valli bears a striking resemblance to the diminutive central singer; Whittaker’s Gaudio exuded the confidence borne of considerable stage experience, and Reynolds’ Massi was a strong and tangible presence in the background.

But for me the outstanding performance of the night was without doubt the charismatic performance of Stewart as bad-boy Tommy DeVito - the showiest role. Delivered in an impeccable Jersey accent, this man has prodigious talent and is most definitely one to watch. He has an open, accessible quality that endears himself to the audience, but no doubt helped by his innate grace and ability to move.

Other performances of note included Adam Pether’s well-timed comic vignette as Bob Crewe, Sarah Valinoti as Mary and Michael Ware’s Joe Pesci.

Of course, all the Four Seasons’ songs were there of course – from “Big Girls Don’t Cry” to “Sherry” December 1963 (Oh What A Night)” and “My Eyes Adored You”, to my own (and clearly many audience members’) personal favourite “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You”, delivered with particular aplomb by Coco against a stunning lighting backdrop.

The excellent vocal direction from Tony Woodhouse and Morgan Eldridge was matched every step of the way with outstanding musical direction under the sure hand of Mark Smith.

This was a perfect way to ease into the post-COVID era and while audiences are naturally cautious about returning to the theatre – and any enclosed meeting-place for that matter – after such an extended period of time, we are so starved of live entertainment and I am positive audiences will respond to this production rapturously.

Trevor Keeling

Photographer: Sonia Worrell