Whether you’re familiar with the songs of The Four Seasons or are uninitiated, Stage Center’s production of Jersey Boys promises an upbeat, feet-stomping good time. The show runs from Thursday, July 18th, through Sunday, July 21st, at Centenary College’s Marjorie Lyons Playhouse.
Discovering the Jersey Boys
Unlike other popular jukebox musicals such as Mamma Mia!, Moulin Rouge, or Rock of Ages, Jersey Boys not only uses the music of The Four Seasons but also tells the story of the band’s New Jersey origins, rocky rise to stardom, and cataclysmic downfall across the 1960s and 1970s. The show is presented in a quasi-first-person perspective, narrated by each of the band’s four original members: Tommy DeVito, Nick Massi, Bob Gaudio, and Frankie Valli. Each band member commands one-quarter of the production’s runtime, giving you a chance to see through their eyes the good times and the bad, all while enjoying 22 musical numbers featuring hits from their charting years.
The original stage production debuted on Broadway in 2005 and won four Tony Awards, including Best Musical. Luckily for local audiences, Stage Center’s production rises to the occasion. To be completely honest, I went in thinking that I might be lucky to see just an acceptable rendition of iconic tunes and some interesting backstory, but I got so much more than that. Not only did Stage Center construct yet another beautiful set and lighting design — something I have come to recognize them for — but they also managed to fill out a cast of vocalists and ensemble dancers that really do justice to both the original production and the Rock and Roll Hall of Famers on which it’s based.
The first act starts off like a rocket with the introduction of Tommy DeVito, the band’s first member, a thief, and overall ne’er-do-well. We are privy to the life and times of the underbelly of Italian New Jersey as Tommy works to form a successful band the only way he knows how — by wheeling and dealing. The band does form, through fits and starts, first with the ever-loyal Nick Massi followed by the iconic Valli, and lastly Bob Gaudio, a former one-hit-wonder child star looking for his second chance. The group is taken in by producer and writer Bob Crewe and slings out some of their most popular tunes. By the time we get to their big break, featuring a medley of “Sherry,” “Big Girls Don’t Cry,” and “Walk Like a Man,” the Jersey Boys are in orbit in what is sure to create a full-on audience sing-a-long.
Bringing Jersey Boys to Shreveport
Achieving such a level of excitement on stage was no easy task. A massive challenge that director Jared Watson and producer Seth Taylor faced was assembling the band. Particularly difficult was finding someone who could not only act and sing, but also sing Frankie Valli’s famous falsetto voice not once, not twice, but well over a dozen times, almost nonstop. They found their man while attending a production of Jesus Christ Superstar at Emmett Hook Center in March of 2023.
“Jesus Christ Superstar was the first time I had ever sung falsetto,” said Charlie Roppolo. “Jared and Seth came up to me and said, ‘We’ve been wanting to do Jersey Boys for a long time, but it all revolves around whether someone can sing these notes and do this kind of role. Would you be interested in playing Frankie Valli?’ Frankie was one of my inspirations for the way that I performed Jesus in Superstar. So I said, ‘Absolutely!’”
Eric Kirton joined the cast as the original band member and businessman Tommy DeVito, serving as the show’s first narrator and spectacularly setting the stage early on, with bravado.
“I was auditioning for Stage Center’s last show SpongeBob Squarepants,” Kirton recalls. “They said, ‘We’re not going to cast you, but we do have this show coming up.’ They gave me the whole rundown about it being about The Four Seasons, which I’ve grown up with but didn’t know the history of the band. After reading the script, I got super excited because, no bias, but Tommy’s my favorite character.”
Marshall Merritt auditioned and won the role of band member Nick Massi, who doesn’t quite get a full chance to shine in Act 1 but comes into his own in the show’s second act, where he serves as narrator.
“By the time I come out on stage with [Nick’s] narration, that’s when it starts to turn dark,” says Merritt. “Everything that goes on in Act 1, it’s a really necessary setup for that. By the time I come out in Act 2, I’m ready to shock everybody.”
The Music is Performed Live
While many local theatre productions, including Stage Center, usually rely on recorded tracks for their productions, this is not the case with Jersey Boys. Seth Taylor, who plays Bob Gaudio, the final member of the band, usually serves as Stage Center’s music director. For Jersey Boys, however, Taylor saw an opportunity to pass the baton as his focus is on performing in almost every scene and a large chunk of the show’s musical numbers. Instead, Watson and Taylor tapped Broadway touring musician Robert Cruz, a Shreveport transplant, to lead a band featuring musicians Eddie Carney, Phil Stewart, Eric Gardner, Bob Maynard, Kevin Rabon, and Rob Sharp who perform in the wings of the stage, mixed live into a concert sound system operated by Natalie James.
“Everybody with their hands on this musical is 100% local,” said Taylor. “I hope that people walk away seeing that local theater can reach a high level of music production. We made it here, y’all.”
An Ensemble of Talent
Rounding out the on-stage cast is a large ensemble including Robert S. Blue, John Bogan, Nate Bokenfohr, Kaitlyn Brown, Jim Cowles, Lies Cruz, Josue Escobar, Kaelon Gerard, Jennifer Jackson, Amelia Osborn, Christian Perkins, Madelyn Stewart, Kimberly Talley, and Benjamin Williamson.
Standout performances include Bogan’s turn as Bob Crewe, The Four Seasons producer. Bogan has a flair that conjures New Jersey-born performer Nathan Lane. Nate Bokenfohr brings massive energy and freneticism to his performance as a young Joe “Joey” Pesci (yes, that Joe Pesci). Lies Cruz hits hard as Valli’s wife Mary, and Christian Perkins shines as he performs multiple roles throughout the production — from The Ray’s member Hal Miller to a Jersey Boy and radio announcer, slipping seamlessly into each role.
During Stage Center’s production of Jersey Boys, you’ll laugh, you’ll jump, you’ll sing, you’ll be stunned in silence.
How to Attend
Jersey Boys will run Thursday, July 18th at 7:30 p.m.; Friday, July 19th at 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, July 20th at 2:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.; and Sunday, July 21st at 2:00 p.m.
If you don’t already have your tickets, shimmy over to the online box office to grab yours before they’re all gone.
Photos by Felicia Kay for Heliopolis.
