REVIEW: Circa soars with heavenly ‘Jersey Boys’

At a tense scene in the jukebox musical “Jersey Boys,” a character tells singer Frankie Valli that to pay off group debts, “You’re gonna be on the road ‘til you’re 90.”

Little did the book writers Rick Elice and Marshall Brickman know when the Broadway sensation opened in 2005 that Circa ‘21’s spectacular, flawless new production of the show would open on Valli’s 90^th birthday (May 3, 2024), and that the Italian Newark native himself would still be touring this year.

“Jersey Boys” tells the true, cathartic story of Valli and The Four Seasons (though it took many different names to settle on that) from his intro to the boy band when he was a teenager through the iconic quartet’s induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990 at the musical’s electrifying climax.

While the packed production has 35 musical numbers, it takes a full 14 nostalgic songs before we get to The Four Seasons’ first hit, “Sherry” (1962), including the aptly named “Earth Angel.”

As performed with laser focus, emotional intensity and an unreal, powerful falsetto (the voice of an angel soaring to the heavens), Bear Manescalchi is a perfect Valli, his fifth time in the role.

When Valli, Bob Gaudio, Tommy DeVito and Nick Massi met, they were just four teens singing together under street lamps, scraping for gigs and money in their working-class Jersey neighborhood.

As the foursome rises to international stardom, however, they celebrate the highs and endure the lows that come hand-in-hand with fame. Each member of the group takes a turn narrating events in this stage tale, illustrating how a ragtag group of guys from New Jersey – and their decades-long friendships – became music history.

In “Jersey Boys,” a hyperactive, immature young Joe Pesci (Derrick Bertram) plays a pivotal role in the formation of the popular band. Growing up near Newark, N.J., young Pesci was friendly with Tommy DeVito (here Michael Ingersoll) and the rest of the band. Pesci connected DeVito (the band’s behind-the-scenes leader at the time) with writer Bob Gaudio, who would later pen nearly all of the Four Seasons’ biggest hits.

The smooth, strong Circa veteran Bobby Becher admirably embodies Gaudio, who seems a Boy Scout next to his three hot-headed, tough, rough and tumble cohorts. His entrance to the group – with “Cry For Me” — is pure magic, as the other three guys seamlessly add in their harmonies seemingly off the cuff.

The dominant member of the testosterone-fueled bunch is the actor who’ll be in the part the shortest span, but has the longest link with the show. Director Michael Ingersoll (who clearly demonstrates heart and soul as leader on and off stage) is an ideal Tommy – brutal, frank, arrogant, and a charismatic performer.

Ingersoll played Nick Massi (bassist in the Four Seasons, mostly quiet and unassuming in the first act of “Jersey Boys”) in the very first Broadway tour in 2006, the second person ever to play the role.

After they opened in San Francisco, it was such a hit, the show stayed for nine months – then Los Angeles for three months and two and a half years in Chicago, Ingersoll playing the part a total of 1,300 times.

“Jersey Boys” ran on Broadway until Jan. 15, 2017, for 4,642 performances (winning the Best Musical Tony), now the 13^th longest running show in history.

At Circa, Kelly Brown is a solid, totally relatable Nick. In the much darker, dramatic second act, Massi takes up much of the narration, revealing his frustrations with DeVito (an ex-con who piles up debts to the mob), and Brown furiously erupts in attacking Tommy, down to his selfish bathroom proclivities.

After Nick unloads and argues with Tommy (who defends himself for running the group), Frankie also explodes at Tommy, who is banished to Vegas and the boys break up for a good/bad while.

As Frankie and Bob are in the metaphorical wilderness, we learn about the blood, sweat and tears it takes to make a hit (likened to the Stations of the Cross), and we see Gaudio’s push and pull with his songwriting partner (and record producer) Bob Crewe (flamboyantly and colorfully played by Tristan Tapscott). Though Crewe wrote lyrics to many of Gaudio’s songs, that’s not clear in “Jersey Boys,” where he’s more in charge of recording and choosing which songs will be hits.

A turning point and highlight in the second half is the buoyant 1967 chart-topper “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You,” which incorporated Frankie and Bob’s long-held dream to include horns, and move in a new songwriting direction.

The super talented ensemble’s five horn players (on the upper level) mime their instruments, moving together with clockwork, stylish precision. Like most Circa shows, music is sung with pre-recorded instrumental tracks.

Among the many musical high points in this dream of a show are “Big Girls Don’t Cry,” “Walk Like a Man,” “December, 1963” (which apparently commemorates Gaudio’s deflowering at 22), a melancholy “My Eyes Adored You” (a rueful meditation on the failure of Valli’s first marriage) with nice harmony by Sarah Leigh Beason as Mary, and an exuberant, rare girl number, “My Boyfriend’s Back.”

Each of the Four Seasons at their Rock Hall reunion brings the audience up to date on their lives (though there’s no mention of Valli’s smash singing “Grease” or Gaudio’s success producing six Neil Diamond albums).

Excellent supporting players include Tom Walljasper as the intimidating Gyp DeCarlo (and others), Brad Hauskins as the intimidating Norm Waxman (and others), and Rachel Winter as Valli’s pained daughter Francine (and others).

The performance ends with a boisterous party reprise of “December, 1963 (Oh What a Night),” and each show is preceded by one of the best Bootlegger pre-shows I’ve ever seen.

The medley of famous boy band hits over the decades was conceived and chosen by Circa’s Kimberly Calhoun, with arrangements, music direction and great choreography by Bobby Becher and Kirsten Sindelar.

Tommy DeVito starting next week will be performed by Joe Collins for the rest of the run, through July 6, 2024. If you want to see the real 90-year-old Frankie Valli, he is scheduled to perform in Rosemont, Ill., Oct. 12, 2024.

“Jersey Boys” will be performed at Circa Wednesday, Friday and Saturday evenings at 7:30 p.m., Sundays at 5:30 p.m., and Wednesday matinées at 1:15 p.m. Pre-show entertainment featuring the theater wait staff the Bootleggers will also precede all performances. Ticket prices are $63 for the Friday-through-Sunday dinner-and-show productions and $56 for all Wednesday performances.

Reservations are available through the Circa ’21 ticket office, 1828 3^rd Ave., Rock Island, or by calling 309-786-7733 ext. 2.

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