My mom heard how much I absolutely loved the Jersey Boy Musical in Chicago, so she got me the CD. She shouldn't have wasted her money. I seriously don't know how Bob Gaudio actually let this leave the studio. I don't know how they let this guy play Frankie Valli. John Lloyd Young's voice is so different, he sounded nothing like Frankie Valli, but then again, I've been listening to Frankie Valli since before my birth so I can be quite critical. My biggest complaint with him is he pronounced a lot of his words differently than Frankie Valli does, very noticeably is how he pronounces his "Y"s and that when he switches from regular singing to falsetto it is no where near as effortless as Frankie Valli where Jerrod's is much smoother. The Bass Singer was no where near good enough. This CD has the original cast, I saw the Chicago cast and they were in a completely different league than the originals, so much better it's indescribable. I hate to be critical of singers, because I'm a singer and have been criticized my entire life, but these people deserve it. In Chicago, I could tell that Jerrod Spector studied Frankie Valli, lived Frankie Valli, where on this CD you can tell for John Lloyd Young this was just a job. Plus, the sound mixing was off and the original charm of the harmonies replaced with a mechanical choppiness that very poorly represented the Four Seasons. I can't believe that Bob Gaudio would allow Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons to be represented so horribly on this CD. If you're producing Beauty and the Beast you don't have to be so careful with your casting, but if you're producing Jersey Boys or any other musical based on a real group, you need to be much, much more careful about your casting, because of people like me, who have loved Frankie Valli for as long as I can remember. People who will hear the difference within the first few notes that are sung. I'm really disappointed with the casting staff for the original musical, it's unbelievable that such a poor representation actually made it to stage. If you can, see the show in person with Jerrod Spector as Frankie Valli, if you can't try someone other than the originals, if you still can't afford to see Jersey Boys in person, it might be worth buying the CD, but only if you're not a fan of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. If you're a fan, don't waste your money.
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6 comments:
Everyone has an opinion and mine is that I've watched the SF 1st Nat'l Tour Cast, SF/Chicago Cast, Las Vegas Cast and the Original Broadway Cast, who produced that studio made recording.
There is no comparison between the "stage production" and the real thing back in the day when Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons were much younger and they performed their music the way they wanted to.
I met the Original Jersey Boys Broadway Cast, "our own" Frank Rovello, Charles Alexander, Frankie Valli, Bob Gaudio, Tommy DeVito and Joe Long at a Broadway against AIDS benefit in NY last October and the original "Jersey Boys" and "superfans of the Four Seasons" had nothing but praise and love for John Lloyd Young and company for their portrayal of the Four Seasons.
I spoke to members of the SF/Chicago cast when they gave me a backstage tour of the Curran Theatre in SF and even though there was fallout between West and East Coast Jersey Boys fans about who should have performed at the Emmys, Jarrod Spector (Frankie) and Craig Laurie (Bob Crewe) said that they (all casts) are "familia" and they understand why the fans reacted as such, because Broadway has a huge fanbase too.
It's just a matter of choice..... Broadway, Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons, SF, London West End, Chicago, Touring Cast or Las Vegas Cast, take your pick! We should be fortunate to have them all, so that the younger generation will have an opportunity to experience the story of our favorite musical group!
What an outrageously vicious and arrogant dismissal of Bob Gaudio's ONLY (count it -- ONLY) GRAMMY AWARD-winning album and its TONY AWARD-winning lead singer and original cast. You know nothing about the original cast's work ethic, who are widely known -- to a person -- as one of the hardest working casts in recent Broadway memory. Someone like you, with serious health problems, a self-professed "ordinary" homemaker, should have the grace and humility to refrain from attacking people she doesn't know. For someone who also runs a Bible-based blog, your writing is astoundingly hateful. SHAME on you.
Dear Ginger, Though my friends have dealt with you more than adequately, I feel compelled to pile on. At least you love Frankie Valli and the Chicago cast of Jersey Boys. So you’re not a bad person at all. You just need a little “guidance” on a few matters.
I've seen the real Frankie Valli more than 30 times, including 6 times in the 1960s. I've seen Jersey Boys 60 times with nine different actors playing Frankie Valli, from David Norona to Ryan Molloy. So I'm something of an expert, and here's what I think:
1. Frankie Valli in his prime is untouchable. 4 Seasons records are untouchable. He and those records will never be equaled. We all agree on that, Ginger.
2. By the 1980s even Frankie couldn't equal Frankie. In concerts he would hit the majority of notes he used to hit, but not all of them. He was always amazing and still is, but he could no longer duplicate the records on stage. I figured that I would never again hear anyone hit those notes, like the ending of Rag Doll, live.
3. On October 6, 2004, I saw the second ever public performance of Jersey Boys at the La Jolla Playhouse, with David Norona as Frankie Valli. I was skeptical going in. No one can sing like Frankie Valli. This might be pitiful, I feared. As the performance unfolded I became mesmerized, just totally stunned. No, it wasn’t Frankie Valli, but it was closer than I ever expected anyone could come. Whatever flaws there were in the music were overcome by the brilliance of the play. Bless you, Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice. In a single night, I was totally hooked on Jersey Boys.
4. So were La Jolla and the whole San Diego area. Jersey Boys became the biggest hit in the history of the La Jolla Playhouse. It didn’t matter if you were a 4 Seasons fan. In fact, it helped if you weren’t. Young people went in cold and marveled at some of the most amazing music they had ever heard. Remember how you felt about 4 Seasons music when it was still new and fresh? That’s how lots of people felt about Jersey Boys. They didn’t do like us and compare it with the original.
5. The planned run of Jersey Boys in La Jolla was extended three times. It could have played forever. But the unexpectedly long run took its toll. David Norona’s voice gave out. It was just too much. No one had ever tried to sing 27 Seasons songs eight times a week. No one knew how to do it. Norona didn’t even want to try it on Broadway. The producers were in despair. Was it all over? No, thank God, because waiting in the wings was John Lloyd Young, a young man willing to take up the biggest challenge in the history of musical theater. But he realized that he would have to train for the task like an Olympian. He worked countless hours with vocal coach Katie Agresta--not to match Frankie Valli, which no one can ever do, but at least to hit the notes in Frankie’s songs night after night.
6. Now to get to Ginger’s misguided lament. On Sunday, August 28, 2005, Frank Rovello and I had the privilege to sit in on the vocals recording session for the Jersey Boys Original Broadway Cast Recording. The schedule, in these days of tight budgets, called for Bob Gaudio to record all the vocals in one day. And besides, the actors didn’t have a lot of time. They had a play to rehearse, and Sunday was their only day off. The pressure was incredible. But the talent in the room was also incredible. I will never forget the recording of my favorite 4 Seasons song, Rag Doll. I had not heard the original notes, and the original ending, sung live since I heard Frankie do it in the 1960s. It was mind-blowing. It gave me chills. It was amazing. No, Ginger, it was not as good as the original, but it was close enough to make me feel that I had been transported back in time. It was wonderful.
7. But the schedule was impossible. Frankie used to record for hours at a time, but JLY couldn’t do it. As Gaudio strove for perfection, as he always does, Young became exhausted. In the early afternoon, Gaudio and Director Des McAnuff decided to send the lead singer home. Gaudio recorded all the other vocals from all the other cast members that day, but he had to bust the budget by bringing JLY back for two more nighttime (after the play rehearsals) recording sessions later in the week. He asked Des to excuse JLY from singing during the rehearsals, so he could record at night.
8. Somehow, despite the ridiculous time constraints, the album got done. I’m sure Gaudio realized it wasn’t perfect, but it was the best he could do under the circumstances. No, Ginger, it wasn’t as good as the original Frankie Valli, but it was pretty damn amazing. It was certainly good enough to become a gold CD, and to the hundreds of thousands of new and old fans who weren’t hung up on comparing it with the original, it was flat out wonderful.
9. What was even more wonderful was that John Lloyd Young could do it live on stage, night after night, with Tony-winning flair. It wasn’t easy. John had rough patches. At one point he missed a bunch of performances until he realized he was suffering from acid reflux and had it treated.
10. What is undeniable is that vocal coach Katie Agresta is a miracle worker. Not only did she keep JLY going for two years, but she has trained virtually all the other new Vallis. What once seemed impossible, singing falsetto eight times a week month after month, become routine. Hail Katie.
11. What differentiates the Frankies now is not the falsetto. They’ve all learned to do that. What separates the excellent from the so-so is their natural singing voices. We forget sometime that what makes Frankie great is not just his falsetto. Heck, Lou Christie had a falsetto. The fact is that Frankie has a beautiful voice over his whole magnificent range. And John Lloyd Young also has a great, great voice. On the cast album, he was just warming up. I saw Young 37 times before he gave up the role. His consistency of tone and style were phenomenal. Ginger, I suggest that you listen to Young sing a few more times before you put him down. The cast album was just one week of performances before the play even opened on Broadway. In my opinion, he’s terrific on the cast album, but he got even better.
12. But, Ginger, after disputing your basic premise, I’ll grant that you may have a point about Jerrod Spector of the Chicago company. When I saw him early in the Chicago run, he was spectacular. I’m not going to rank all the nine Frankies I’ve seen. That wouldn’t be fair. Some I like a lot, and some not as much. Most I haven’t seen enough to form a definitive judgment. And I can barely remember the great David Norona, who was the first one to cast a spell over me. But I will say that my two favorites are John Lloyd Young and Jarrod Spector. You think Spector is better than Young. That’s possible, but I only saw Spector twice, so I can’t say. We’ll see if he lasts two years. I hope he makes it to Broadway some day.
13. So here’s the bottom line. I’m sure I will see the real Frankie sometime this year, as I did last year. His shows now are fabulous. I will also see Jersey Boys 12 to 15 times. I will love it all. What’s the point of comparing the real incomparable Frankie with actors playing the young Frankie? It’s great to see Frankie and it’s great to see young men give their best shot at portraying Frankie. On a typical night these days in the Western hemisphere, from Las Vegas to London, more than 5,000 people are watching five different sets of Jersey Boys sing the music of the 4 Seasons. And on many of those nights another 1000 people are listening to the real Frankie, who “keeps going and going, like that bunny on TV with the battery.” 4 Seasons fans, we have reached heaven. This is it.
Cheers, Charles
Ginger, In the cool light of morning, after all that ranting in the middle of the night, I realize I actually could have answered your comment in three sentences. Jersey Boys should not be a Frankie-imitation contest, which would be hopeless. In my view, the actors who do best in the role are the ones who don't try to be Frankie. The best ones hit the notes, but sing in their own voice. Regards, Charles
First, I would like to say a few words to Amy. I may now be just an ordinary housewife, but I have not always been. I grew up a singer, the daughter of a singer and relative to two very amazing music teachers. One of whom was the vocal coach for one of the ladies who went on to play Belle in the National tour of Beauty and the Beast. I traveled with my dad and his group for the first 13 years of my life and then went on to travel with my own group. On my dad's last record, I helped with some of the sound mixing because I have a pretty good ear for that, having been around it my entire life. I was awarded a full ride scholarship to an International University to pursue my dream of becoming a music teacher myself, but had to give it up because of my illness. I studied music for the entire duration of my school life and am now married to a musician. So yes, now I am an ordinary housewife, but I know music quite well.
Next, I don't doubt that John Lloyd Young is a good singer, my point was that this CD was a poor reflection on him, the rest of the original cast and the Four Seasons. Knowing that the cast only had one day to record it does make somewhat of a difference, but the problem still is that, I would have thought that someone with the musical background and expertise of Bob Gaudio would have tried to force the issue of quality more or demanded politely that the CD wait until the singers were more comfortable in their roles and had more time to do the recording.
As for you Charles, I understand your perspective on no one being able to sound like Frankie Valli, but I have to differ with you there. I know at least one man who can still, on a regular basis, sing those songs just as good as Frankie did. He has an amazing high tenor voice and is very much a performer at heart.
You also talk about the younger audience that has been brought in because of Jersey Boys. For the most part, the younger people who I have had contact with about Jersey Boys, are fans of Jersey Boys and not as much fans of the Four Seasons themselves. They like the songs, but it doesn't really matter who sings them.
One more thing, Charles, I don't remember the first time I heard the Four Seasons because I was so young when I started listening to them, so I don't remember when the Four Seasons were new and fresh, but I do remember my passion for the Four Seasons growing up. They were pretty much the only group I would listen to for years. I had a tape my dad made me from the Four Seasons albums he had and wore that tape out listening to them. I remember knowing every word of every song on that tape. Though I agree with you that Jersey Boys shouldn't be an imitation contest, I still think that if you're going to play a real person, you should get as much as you can as close as you can. My biggest issue with the imitation is that though he couldn't make your voice sound like Frankie's, he should have cared enough to at least pronounce the words the same way as Frankie did.
"Should have cared enough." This kid cared more than anybody!, ask anyone even distantly involved in the show. Ask Jarrod Spector. He'll probably say the same thing. You undercut your credibility completely by making allegations against someone's work ethic when you don't even know them. And you make your assertions in opposition to the major New York and national critics, Broadway audiences, and major awards organizations like the Tonys and Grammys which are far more difficult groups to please than a housewife who used to be in Beauty and the Beast. These people and/or groups overwhelmingly praised Mr. Young's evocation of this famous voice. One of the most oft-heard phrases about Mr. Young in the show or on the CD is "I close my eyes and can't tell the difference." In other words, you're pretty much "all alone" in your opinion, which, for someone who is somewhat homebound should be a familiar feeling.
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