Jersey Boys, Best Show to Hit St. Louis in Years.

Got some jingle in your pocket...or a few Benjamin's in your wallet? Then do yourself a big favor and purchase tickets right now for the Jersey Boys at the Fabulous Fox. Time is running short. Their road stop in St. Louis ends May 29th. Last call is 6 p.m. on that Sunday. Those who can get tickets are the lucky ones. Lots of the remaining shows are probably near or sold out?

Now, I normally don’t write about area-wide events. My turf is pretty much Ladue and Frontenac.

But our children (son and daughter) bought us Jersey Boys tickets for our anniversary because they thought that show suited us well. They nailed that one perfectly.

It did and more.

The fabulous show played out at the Fabulous Fox. It was magical.

Now I’m not one usually for musical entertainment. Rather, you’d probably find me more often at Busch Stadium or the Edward Jones Dome for a baseball or football game. I am more likely to end up on a dusty diamond at John Burroughs or MICDS than at some posh entertainment venue in mid or downtown St. Louis.

My last musical was Mama Mia at the Fox and that was more than a few years ago.

Cast everything aside. This has to be the very best show (for all tastes and ages) to hit St. Louis in recent years. I must confess, the grey haired 50+ crowd dominated the audience the night we went.

The pulsating sounds of the recreated Four Seasons had patrons coming to their feet and stomping to their delight. Anyone with a pulse and over age 50 can relate to tunes like “Walk Like a Man,” “My Eyes Adore You,” "Rag Doll,"  “Big Girls Don’t Cry,” “Sherry” and a host of others. It was non-stop music that I know the words to, and can relate.

A two and half hour show, with brief intermission seemed to go by in a matter of minutes. The  performance lines were executed flawlessly. The transitions were seamless. Anyone who didn’t get their money’s worth is living on another planet.

What a wonderful storyline of how Frankie Vailli and his three friends Bob Gaudio, Tommy Devito and Nick Massi stepped out of the shadows of New Jeysey to become wildly-beloved entertainers from coast to coast then let the act fall apart. The Jersey Boys, forerunners to the Beetles were clearly the class act of the decade of the 60s.
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The 34 numbers in the show are so exhausting by these baritone impresarios, there are two performers splitting up the lead role with an understudy waiting in the wings.

No wonder Jersey Boys was such a smash on Broadway and carted off more Tony Awards than anyone can remember. They sold 175 million records worldwide during the decade.

Fellow Patch writer Steve Overbey has seen the show twice and gives it a 5 star thumbs. On the way out, I asked my wife if we could go back again the next night, hoping she'd say yes.

There are shows that simply don’t cut the mustard. There are others that are a ho-hum super bores. Simply put, I could watch the Jersey Boys perform every night of the week. I just don’t have enough Benjamin's to do that, or I would.