Review: Jarrod Spector's JUKEBOX LIFE at Feinstein's/54 Below is Raucous Fun

When my jukebox baby takes the floor/'Round the old jukebox in the candy store/The joint starts jumpin'/Till the roof comes tumblin' down... (Noel & Joel Sherman, "Juke Box Baby")

Jarrod Spector began performing at three years old. A film of his singing "Toot, Toot, Tootsie" with emphatic gestures shows the talented artist preternaturally polished. We're then treated to a clip from Ed McMahon's Star Search in which the six-year-old, pint-sized pretender performs Bertolt Brecht/Kurt Weill's "Mack the Knife." His parents, he explains, favored Bobby Darin to the extent that they overlooked the song's subject was "a serial killer." Tonight's version is brass-centric, Las Vegas swing.

JUKEBOX LIFE, presented at Feinstein's 54/Below, is the most recent iteration in a series of biographical shows. (Time to move on.) It adds Spector's marriage and his role as songwriter Barry Mann in the Carole King musical BEAUTIFUL to that of playing Frankie Valli in JERSEY BOYS and early aspirations. (Interestingly, he was unaware of both the men into whose shoes he has stepped.) Its title was inspired by a fan who asked, "What's it like to have this incredible jukebox life?"

A trio of rock songs by Bert Berns (author of the 60s' "Piece of My Heart" and "Twist and Shout") from a show by music director/pianist Adam Ben-David are up-tempo fun. Spector is at home with this kind of music. An avowed child of the 80s, he dreams of playing Bruce Springsteen when/if that musical is written. Photos of him beside the rocker display similarities.

The artist is eminently likeable. Running script here is personal, entertaining, and well paced. An anecdote about his audition for FIDDLER ON THE ROOF is priceless, description of meeting his now wife infectiously warm.

Addressing the latter, Jason Robert Brown's "Shiksa Goddess" (with Latin rhythm and surprising flute) is both funny and apt: ...If you drove an R.V., that wouldn't matter/If you like to drink blood, I think it's cute/If you've got a powerful connection to your firearm collection/I'd say, Draw a bead and shoot/I'm your Hebrew slave, at your service/Just tell me what to do. Spector seems besotted.

We hear songs from both Broadway shows in which he featured. A cottony, tenor version of "Since I Don't Have You" (Jackie Taylor/James Beaumont/Janet Vogel/Joseph Rock/Joe Verscharen/Lennie Martin/Wally Lester) and "Can't Take My Eyes Off of You" (Bob Gaudio/Bob Crewe), with sweet sincerity and a flash of falsetto, are nostalgic and appealingly arranged. The audience smiles and/or bobs along. Like almost every number in this pumped show, both unfortunately (unnecessarily) swell to LOUD. Even the dulcet "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" (Otis Redding/Steve Cropper), with Spector at the piano, morphs into hard, dense insistency.

Carole King's "You've Got a Friend" is a notable exception. Spector describes King's unexpected appearance on the stage of the Broadway musical between verses of a gently buoyant rendition. (She had been notably absent during development.) He CAN do this.

Two from Claude-Michel Schönberg/Alain Boublil/Herbert Kretzmer's LES MISERABLES are the only real ballads. (The performer's first Broadway appearance was as the young Gavroche.) A heartfelt interpretation of "Bring Him Home" is utterly lovely. Additionally, "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" (from BEAUTIFUL, Barry Mann/Cynthia Weil/Phil Spector), replete with curious origin story, is appealingly mellow. A few more of this temper are needed.

Jarrod Spector is formidably talented. Except for disproportionate volume and the fact that the artist never looks at the audience---a lamentable loss of connection---the piece is well directed by Eric Michael Gillett, and the musicianship is superb.

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Jarrod Spector's JUKEBOX LIFE continues at Feinstein's/54 Below on November 4, 5, and 13. For tickets and reservations, visit www.54below.com.

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