The Death of “Jersey Boys”…and the End of Broadway in Vegas?


Kelly Lamrock delves into the future of Broadway…on the Strip

In the early days of Saturday Night Live, misanthropic head writer Michael O’Donoghue would occasionally appear as “Mr. Mike”, a benignly-dark fellow who would read fairy tales to children…ones in which awful things would happen. If pressed for a moral to the tale, he would shrug and say ”There’s no moral. It’s just some stuff that happened”.

The same could be said for Jersey Boys, the jukebox musical that just finished its successful run at Paris. If you’re thinking of squeezing in a last look at the Broadway transplant, you’re a little late, as the final performance was this past Sunday the 18th.

14311324_10210264564988534_7562270437523373517_o

One thing I really enjoyed about Jersey Boys was being re-introduced to the work of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, the group whose journey to stardom makes up the source material. The band often gets forgotten a bit in rock and roll history. Perhaps that’s due to being a bit of a transitional band (from the early rock and roll of the Elvis era to the complex work of the 60’s). But when they were big, they were very big. You may well find yourself having a few “Oh, this was them too?” moments during the performance.

The cast earns its cheque in this run, managing to tell a story over several decades with only a few very versatile swing actors taking on multiple parts. The leads recreate the music and harmonies of the band very well, and the energy and music carry the night. This is a fun show that takes you (mostly) breezily through the quartet’s rough upbringing and rise to stardom. Songs and sight gags dominate and, seen as a jukebox musical; the performance would be worth its price as a tribute act alone.

If there is a weakness that bedevils Jersey Boys, it is that the source material makes for a lousy play on which to anchor the music. There is simply no sense of story or drama here. A writer friend of mine once described the stage-writers craft as this – the protagonist cannot get what he wants until he gets what he needs.

Think of “Marty McFly” from Back To The Future, learning to stick up for himself to save his present-day life. Or, Amy Schumer needing to risk failure in order to achieve relationship success in Trainwreck. We don’t need Shakespeare to realize that a lead character has to have some reaction to events to make those them meaningful (even if it is a tragic inability to change, like in Raging Bull).

Jersey Boys

The Frankie Valli of Jersey Boys is a cipher. Things happen to him but what he makes of them is a mystery. (Warning – because this musical deals with historical fact, I will be unafraid of spoilers here). Frankie grows up around violence and petty crime. Does he reject this, or does he struggle not to indulge? Frankie’s wife becomes drunk and angry – he stoically grabs a suitcase, but what does he feel in the moment?

When he chooses to take on the group’s mob debt alone, is it the music, the road, loyalty that led to this? Who knows? Even the moment of apparent redemption, his surprise late-career hit with “Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You,” largely just happens to him by good fortune. There’s no sense of catharsis or struggle that led to it. Basically, it’s just some stuff that happened (and sounded very good).

At one critical juncture, Frankie is faced with a devastating family loss. The script suggests that his absence for work is to blame. This leads to an affecting moment where the touching song “Fallen Angel” is used to show that Frankie is sad at the loss. But does it change him? Does he regret the work, or resent those who ran up the debts and forced him to be an absentee father? It’s hard to say, for we simply head off to the band’s valedictory at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the “wasn’t that a ride” handshakes, with no emotional reckoning at all.

These flaws weren’t fatal to the night out. They were probably more sharply exposed in the movie, where the camera creates an intimacy that makes the lack of emotional depth more glaring. If you think you’d enjoy the music, go catch it in on Broadway before it closes on January 15th, 2017. Or one of the cities where the touring version still performs. I just can’t say it’s any more enjoyable than seeing an excellent tribute act with decent staging.

Jersey Boys

Seeing (and enjoying) Jersey Boys led me to a larger question – is there a future for Broadway transplants on the Strip? In recent years, hits like Avenue Q, Phantom of the Opera, Mamma Mia, and The Lion King have closed. Million Dollar Quartet will soon join them. I suspect that this trend away from giving Broadway shows a second exclusive will increase.

Broadway shows were, in the 60’s and 70’s, often like Vegas shows. They offered the spectacle of big dance numbers and catchy songs with only minor nods to plot and character. (I’ve played “Horace Vandergellar” in Hello, Dolly! and I still don’t know why the couple connects and fall in love at the end. Nor do audiences care.)

Vegas tends to love spectacle presented without irony, which makes sense for a town built on escapism and fantasy. But in New York’s theater scene, musicals like Fiddler on the Roof and Cabaret began slipping deeper themes into the proceedings. There has been a trend this way with Broadway musicals. Avenue Q is instructive – the musical takes a dark view of life and presents it in an ironic Sesame Street format where millennial puppets realize they don’t just finish college and change the world. New Yorkers loved it…in Vegas, it died quickly. On Broadway, even comic musicals are tackling big themes – think of the nihilism in Book Of Mormon or the social justice themes of Hairspray and Kinky Boots.

Jersey Boys

It is telling, I think, that the Broadway transplant that comes closest to Jersey Boys’ long run is Rock Of Ages. That loveable station-wagon of a musical gives us great covers of classic songs and a thin plot that stuffs the characters into a happy ending. I love Rock Of Ages on its terms, a lot. But at no point was I ever in danger of believing I was watching Hamilton.

Jersey Boys

If jukebox musicals with thin plots are what sells, casino owners may soon ask “Why not just do what Human Nature does and offer musical revues with individual songs and some staging?”. After all, you cut down on supporting actors and licensing rights. They may also move away from the commitments and exclusivity that production shows bring and invest more heavily in short-term runs by proven musicians…perhaps even building more concert venues instead of theaters.

As New York and Vegas grow apart in what sells, I expect this will be the trend. This may mean that, more than ever, Avenue Q’s final line proves to be the best summary of Vegas shows – “Everything in life is only for now.”

None of that is bad. Like the cities that spawn them, both New York and Vegas entertainment can be loved and enjoyed on their own terms. But perhaps I should have urged you sooner to make an effort to catch Jersey Boys at Paris.

It may have been one of the last chances for a Broadway night out on the Strip.

Photos: [Sammasseur, Jersey Boys via Facebook]

5 thoughts on “The Death of “Jersey Boys”…and the End of Broadway in Vegas?

  1. A fair review of Jersey Boys to some extent – although it was a play I loved to watch and while not a masterpiece of writing/acting I think the story line was sufficient to make it better than just a Four Seasons musical review.

    I don’t think Broadway is dead in Vegas. Jersey Boys, Lion King, Mama Mia and others all had very long runs in Vegas. Certainly longer than they had anywhere else other than Broadway. Eventually the market is going to winnow for any show. To me each of those is an example of how a Broadway show can be very successful in Vegas. I think most show producers would be thrilled if they could have a one year run in one location with strong ticket sales. Each of these shows and several other Broadway shows surpassed that in Vegas.

  2. Vegas follows the demographics, probably quicker than most.

    Goodnight baby boomers. Hellooooo Millennials!

  3. Loved this show and saw it 3 times in Vegas, Sad to see it go, too many good shows are closing in Vegas these days.

  4. Astute comments, all. D Janssen, I hope you’re right. I love a Broadway night out in Vegas, and I hope folks can still make the numbers work. My fear is, indeed, that Rooster is right. We will have to see what these shows are replaced with. If those theatres are still dark in a year, then maybe it will be true that Vegas is chasing millennials with big ticket concerts at the new arena rather than giving us Gen Xers what we want.

    And PeachieKeehn, you caught me. I owe you a pop. :)

Comments are closed.

Previous post “Eric NYC” Shares His Slick and Healthy “Vegas Musts”
Next post Mr. Olympia 2016: “The Rock” and Arnold Pump Up Las Vegas