Oh What A Night!

Written By: Mary Lou Smith for The Laurel Magazine | Issue: Whats News

Mountain Theatre Company’s Jersey Boys opening night was a high-powered, unashamedly feel-good show. It was loaded with romance, comedy, passion, and feel good music. From this reviewer’s perspective, the wow-ometer was red-lining at every corner of the theatre.

What makes this finger-snapping, musical-docu a Tony, Grammy, and Laurence Olivier Award winner is its contagious energy and five-star story-telling. The cast portraying the lives and musical history of Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons masterfully captured the group’s personae, their moves, and their voices. The vocals would either make or break the show, and Mountain Theatre Company’s Executive Director Scott Daniel delivered the goods, bringing to Highlands an amazingly talented, spot-on, synergistic cast.

The story begins with friendships forged early-on in the 1950s housing projects of New Jersey. That led to mob connections and colorful language, to prison sentences and bad debt that tested friendships, and family tragedies. And, no spoilers here, there is a happy ending … the band’s 1990 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Highlands resident and MTC’s Company Manager Emanuel Carrero stars as the falsetto-serenading Frankie Valli. Carrero, who simply channeled Valli –  from his movements, inflections and energy – brought the sold-out audience to a clapping frenzy with his rendition of “Can’t Take My Eyes of You.”

Carrero was joined by John Muezzin Hannigan as Bob Gaudio (who co-wrote “Oh, What a Night”), Sam Johnson as Nick Massi, and Gianni Palmarini as Tommy DeVito. The quartet’s harmony was pitch perfect, soul-stirring, and worth the price of admission – over and over again. Their performances of “Sherry,” “Walk Like a Man,” and “Big Girls Don’t Cry” had everyone locked in dance mode.

The juxtaposed bee-bop harmonies and backstage Jersey-born tough-guy troubles were interwoven throughout the musical and served as poignant contrasts, keeping the audience enthralled by its tension and release.

The set was simple, industrial-style with a single scaffold. Enhancing the different scenes were multi-hued light projections, accenting the feel of each new location. Scene change set-pieces were brought in and out by the actors themselves –  seamlessly shifting the audience from the streets of Jersey to world class arenas.

The Opening Night performance was filled with joy, tears, and an irresistible compulsion to join in the singing nostalgia – vocal chords at full throttle. 

The show’s finale was an enthusiastic standing ovation, all of us wanting more. And more was delivered. The cast performed one last round of “Oh What A Night” as the elated audience reluctantly made their way home, with a heartful of happy on which to reflect.  

Oh, what a night, indeed!