Oh What A Night! My Eyes Adore JERSEY BOYS at Toby's in Columbia

“What fun,” I thought, when learning that the new production at Toby’s was JERSEY BOYS, a musical biography about The Four Seasons. My second thought was, “and a lot of white people.” I was right on both counts, and I recommend you go immediately to see this terrific show. 

This jukebox musical, music by Bob Gaudio (mostly), lyrics by Bob Crewe (mostly), book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice (entirely), is presented in a bio-pic documentary-style format, telling the ‘origin story’ of certain New Jersey native singers who came eventually to be known as The Four Seasons. JERSEY BOYS made its debut in 2004, so it’s not a BRAND new musical: older than KINKY BOOTS but fresher (by a little) than HAIRSPRAY. It won 4 Tony awards in 2006.

This script of JERSEY BOYS is tight, the pace is rapid, and it’s impossible to be bored, or lost. Although I’m generally not a fan of a jukebox musical- one that curates existing songs and weaves a story around them, as opposed to a traditional musical, which creates story-specific songs, usually by the same artist or group of artists- I like JERSEY BOYS. In fact, I like it a lot. To date, my favorite jukebox musical has been MOTOWN, THE MUSICAL, and this is like that, only very, very white. In JERSEY BOYS, this script and these songs - not all of which are in the Four Seasons’ catalog- pull together to form a stellar example of a really GOOD jukebox musical. They’ve packed a double-vinyl-album’s worth of music into this show, and the audience is really enjoying that. About a third of them, (I hazard a guess), may have never heard any of these songs. The harmonies are simply inspiring.

Despite The Four Seasons having been around for decades, their origin story was deliberately kept quiet, as knowledge of their rough-and-tumble early days would most certainly have kept their songs from airing in the sixties and seventies. It was songwriter Bob Gaudio’s idea for a musical biography about The Four Seasons, and he hired writers Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice to create that. Fearing using a song title would look like a cash grab, the musical was named after who they were, rather than what they did. 

With eight performers making their Toby’s debut, you’ll see fewer of your “familiar favorites” and more “fresh faces,” which is a very good thing for this youthfully skewed show. Director and choreographer Mark Minnick keeps the action moving by having scene changes happen during expository monologues, and rather than complicated choreography, he leans heavily on temporally appropriate synchronized movement for the musical numbers. The actors make these look very smooth and the audience isn’t distracted from the breathtaking vocals. 

In the featured role of Tommy DeVito, who acts as First Narrator, Patrick Gover is charming and confident to begin the story. His comfort in the space is evident as he guides the action for about a third of the show. As his brother Nick DeVito, Brandon Bedore, a Toby’s regular, is a sturdy sidekick, then blends seamlessly into the Ensemble. Playing Frankie Valli, who has a very specific vocal sound in The Four Seasons, is Nicky Kaider, whom you may have noticed in A Chorus Line at Toby’s. Kaider is 100% up to the challenge of matching Valli’s well-known sound. Ben Clark, who plays songwriter Bob Gaudio, has a beautiful smoothness to his performance, is brand new to Toby’s for JERSEY BOYS, sounds terrific, and I look forward to seeing him again in future productions. Nick Massi, the bassist and bass vocalist of the Four Seasons, is played by Benjamin Campio, who is also performing at Toby’s for the first time. He brings a dry wit to the part, which seems a bit skimpier than the contributions of the other three. I assume this is due to the fact that the real Nick Massi was unable to share his perspective to inform the musical, as he had died in 2000. 

Other noteworthy performances among the cast are MaryKate Brouillet as Frankie’s love interest, Mary, Anwar Thomas as many people, all delightful, Lydia Gifford as Valli’s tragic daughter Francine, Christopher Decker, brand new to Toby’s, playing the as-yet unknown Joe Pesci, Jeffrey Shankle in assorted parts, who delivers possibly the funniest line in the show, and Brian Lyons-Burke in his debut at Toby’s obviously relishing the part of Gyp DeCarlo, a New Jersey underworld overlord. 

Music Director Ross Scott Rawlings, a 30-year veteran at Toby’s, who also conducts the orchestra and plays keyboard, not only re-creates the iconic harmonies of the Four Seasons, and other groups of the era but also produces a big orchestral sound that balances perfectly with the vocals powering JERSEY BOYS. Tony Neenan’s trumpet is instrumentally relevant, and also a plot point. Charlene McDaniel on woodwinds gives us truly fine tones in “My Eyes Adored You.”

Costume design by Heather Jackson is super duper special and really sells the progression of time. I’ll credit her also with the many fabulous wigs, as a separate wig/hair/makeup designer is not mentioned. 

Tori Alioto gives us projections of Jersey neighborhoods to set the scene. I am pleased with the sparse sets, designed by David A. Hopkins, who also sets up excellent special spots as Lighting Designer. The focus is truly on the vocalists, and very little is needed to create site-specific atmospheres.

If you’re a fan of the sixties sound, I urge you to acquire tickets to JERSEY BOYS, a fun, funny, hit-filled musical. As an outing for the whole family, however, be aware that there are adult themes, substance use, gambling and infidelity woven into the entire storyline; maybe not ideal for youngsters. Everyone else will find the musical numbers undeniably catchy, even those unfamiliar with the band, and every song's harmony is accurately and heart-warmingly rendered by this terrifically talented cast. 

Toby’s continues to celebrate its 45th Anniversary in Columbia, evidence that the community’s support of live theater has been unflagging for an entire generation. Toby’s extensive buffet is top notch. See information about the menu online, for both dinner and brunch. 

Running time is 2 hours, 45 minutes, including one intermission. Intermission is exactly long enough for everyone to cycle in and out of the restrooms.

Jersey Boys runs through September 1, 2024 at Toby’s Dinner Theatre in Columbia 5900 Symphony Woods Road, Columbia, MD 21044 

June 21 - September 1, 2024: Tues- Sat Doors 6 PM, Buffet 6-7:20, Show 8 PM; Sunday Brunch 10:30 doors & buffet; showtime 12:30; Sunday evening doors & buffet 5:00 PM, Showtime 7 PM.

$79-86.00 adults; $60-$63 children

Toby’s Box Office is open Monday- Saturday  10:00am- 8:00pm, Sunday  10:00am – 7:00pm.

Please call the box office at 410-730-8311 to purchase tickets. Toby’s has no online ticket purchase option through their own website, though you can purchase tickets from Ticketmaster if you’re unable to do it over the phone with the live human staff members at Toby’s.

Free parking is available all around the building. You may wish to check the schedule at Merriweather Post Pavilion to see if concert-going traffic will impact your travel time. 

Next up at Toby’s is The Addams Family, September 6- November 10, 2024. The holiday show is The Sound of Music, November 15 - January 12, 2025,  followed by the winter show, Dolly Parton’s 9 to 5 January 17th- March 15th, 2025.

Photo: L to R, Benjamin Campion, Ben Clark, Nicky Kaider and Patrick Gover as Nick, Bob, Frankie & Tommy, The Four Seasons 

Photo Credit: Jeri Tidwell Photography

Final Factoid: The real Frankie Valli is still touring. He’s performing in Lancaster, PA on July 21 and MGM National Harbor on September 28, 2024. Bob Gaudio is mostly retired but sometimes shows up for The Four Seasons events.

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