Review: ‘Jersey Boys’ satisfies at La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts (2024)

In 2004, when it debuted in La Jolla, the show was called “Jersey Boys.” This past weekend found a limited run at La Mirada Theatre of, these days, the inflated titling “Jersey Boys: The Story of Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons.”

In the years between — in addition to mysteriously growing a mouthful more words, plus an ampersand — this autobiographical jukebox musical about the New Jersey rags-to-riches pop group ran on Broadway for 11 years, was seen in repeated, lengthy stays on four continents and reportedly racked up more than $2 billion at the box office.

No matter the nomenclature inflating successes. It is a pleasure now to re-experience it in La Mirada’s intimate space, a satisfying production of the rough and tumble tale of a band’s clawing to the top of the charts and what came after.

Oh, and how gritty are these Jersey boys? Enough to warrant Tom McCoy, the theater’s resident entrepreneur and entertainingly glib emcee, warning during his pre-show patter that there was salty language ahead.

Apart from being stocked with verbal “f” — and every other — bombs, the formative, origin-story portion “Jersey Boys” is at its most interesting during the first 25 minutes or so.

A perverse quality about autobiography jukebox musicals: early struggle and failure definitely fuels the most interesting parts of the story. However, the early part of these musicals also deny audiences the main thing they crave, which is getting hit tunes that the artists haven’t written or performed yet.

Director T.J. Dawson seems to understand this about “Jersey Boys” and he is effective with well-paced staging providing a quick tumble of early scenes.

The story’s mid-late-‘50s era gestation happens in the decidedly seedy environs of Italianate “Joiz-ee,” as the local pronunciation sometimes has it.

Against this background, a lowlife grifter/musician named Tommy DeVito (a satisfyingly repellent, sharp-edged Chris Fore) tries — and fails, repeatedly — to put together a series of bands with go-nowhere names, notably as The Variatones and The Four Lovers.

Along the way, he accumulates a nuclear core of two other bandmates: Nick Massi (Blake Burgess, suitably stolid at bass, both singing and guitar-wise) and a teenage, high-range vocalist, Francesco Stephen Castelluccio (renamed for stage as Frankie Valli, the key to this production is ultimately singer Noah Rivera, who ideally mimics the trademark Valli singing style).

Thing is, these three guys may have heart — though DeVito’s is a black one, motivated by more than petty criminal leanings that will disrupt the band’s finances and roster later on — but they lack songs worth singing.

Magic arrives in the form of an ambitious, extremely young songwriter — earlier, he wrote the gimmicky novelty hit “(Who Wears) Short Shorts” at 15 — named Bob Gaudio (an appealing, fresh-faced Taubert Nadalini).

(The show’s main real-life asterisk is the original trio is initially introduced to Gaudio by annoying hanger-on/eventual Oscar-winning actor Joe Pesci).

With the group enamed the Four Seasons — in the show, each member narrates the story at different points — pop immortality is achieved through Gaudio’s melodies, which feature tightly arranged, beat-driven rhythm, four-part vocal harmonies, and, always, highlighting Valli’s piercing falsetto.

The ups and downs of stardom play out, but following the consecutive performance run of titles like “Big Girls Don’t Cry,” “Walk Like a Man” and “December, 1963 (Oh What a Night),” the musical evolves into a true jukebox of hit songs driving the musical the rest of the way with only occasional rest stops of plotting.

Predictably, the song that lands biggest on the audience is the band’s 1967 massive mid-tempo ballad hit “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You.”

The performances are fine enough.

Beyond the leads, Marlana Dunn as Mary Delgado, Valli’s tough cookie first wife, is crumbled by his infidelities and unwillingness to participate in fatherhood (this leads to the show’s one brief, tragic moment).

Also doing good things is Adam Lendermon as the group’s producer/lyricist/spacey philosopher Bob Crew.

As is invariably the — pleasurable — case, staging for a La Mirada production punches above its weight class as regional theater goes.

Surrounded on three sides of the open center stage, scenic designer Stephen Gifford has fashioned an efficient two-story set with staircases. In the early scenes this provides an effective, almost claustrophobic surrounding atmosphere.

There is also support for this early ambience from lighting designer Jean-Yves Tessier’s intentionally muted visual pallet which then explodes in blazing bright spots starting with the Four Seasons’ earliest No. 1 hit, “Sherry.”

Rounding out this cohesive ambience are costume designer Adam Ramirez’s wardrobes. They appear rough and intentionally cheap (even tawdry for the women’s garb) early on and are cunning in their swankiness (though never quite classy) as the band’s fortunes grow.

One additional note: this show is presented by 3D Theatricals. That production group mounted full seasons of worthy work on Southern California stages since 2010, but other than a 2022 production of “Newsies” at the Cerritos Performing Arts Center, 3D has been locally absent since the pandemic.

Good to encounter them once again.

‘Jersey Boys’

Rating: 3 stars (from a possible 4)

Where: La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts. 14900 La Mirada Blvd., La Mirada.

When: Through May 12. 7:30 p.m., Thursdays; 7 p.m., 8 p.m., Fridays; 2 and 8 p.m. Saturdays; Sundays, 1 and 6:30 p.m

Tickets: $24-105

Information: 714-994-6310; lamiradatheatre.com