Lewis Kennedy Archives - North West End UK

There is something reassuring about walking into a theatre knowing that within minutes an audience will be singing along to songs they have known for decades. Yet Jersey Boys offers far more than a nostalgic trip through a greatest-hits collection. Twenty years after it first opened on Broadway, the musical continues to demonstrate why the story behind Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons is every bit as compelling as the music they created. At the Palace Theatre in Manchester, the 20th-anniversary gala performance delivers the familiar songs alongside the less glamorous side of life in the spotlight. This isn’t a story where success simply arrives and everything falls neatly into place. It is about four young men chasing a dream, the relationships that suffer along the way, financial pro...

Back in fifties New Jersey there were three ways out of poverty – the army, getting mobbed up or become a pop star. Frankie Valli and his three mates formed The Four Seasons to take what they thought would be the easy option. But as well as massive hits like Sherry and Big Girls Don’t Cry, this surprisingly gritty tale of the perils of rags to riches pop stardom is not without its mob connection. Street hustler Tommy Devito is also a musician and discovers a vocal winning lottery ticket in Frankie Valli’s distinctive falsetto. Throw in the genius of songwriter Bob Gaudio and you have the Four Seasons who become the best selling boy band of all time with a string of hits. But like all successful bands they are brought down to earth thanks to internecine rivalries, ego and ...

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Jersey Boys – Palace Theatre

Jersey Boys – Bradford Alhambra