Review: The Gateway Gives 'Jersey Boys' New Life on Long Island

Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons, The Four Lovers, or simply The Four Seasons — no matter what name or era of the group audiences are most familiar with, it’s hard to deny how influential their music was and continues to be through the Tony-winning musical Jersey Boys. With no Broadway or U.S. tour dates for the past several years, fans of the New Jersey crooners would have to fly to London to see the show, were it not for The Gateway’s dazzling production that opened on Long Island this month.

Jersey Boys features a book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice, music by Four Seasons member Bob Gaudio and lyrics by Bob Crewe. The jukebox musical is officially split into two acts, but it’s more accurately structured into four acts, each narrated by a different member of The Four Seasons, with an intermission after the first two narrators share their subjective perspectives.

The audience’s introduction to Jersey Boys at The Gateway Playhouse, directed by Larry Raben, is made by Tommy DeVito (portrayed by Travis Murad Leland), who credits himself as the band’s founder and the discoverer/mentor of Frankie Valli. Tommy’s streetwise perspective serves as an excellent entry point into the group’s history pre-Four Seasons, when he was joined by his brother Nick DeVito and Nick “Nickie” Massi to form The Variety Trio cover group. Leland delivers each line with a roguish charisma perfectly tuned to the 1950s New Jersey setting. His baritone vocal performance complements the harmonies of his fellow singers in numerous songs and stands out particularly well in the bluesy “Earth Angel.”

Almost immediately, Tommy nonchalantly divulges the trio’s many crimes that resulted in jailtime for each member, including his brother’s especially long sentence that effectively took him out of the story after just two songs. In his brief appearance as Nick, Connor Macchi’s high energy in swift renditions of “Silhouettes” and “You’re the Apple of My Eye” kicks off the show with a great sense of momentum and excitement. Macchi does return to play additional characters, so thankfully his energetic presence doesn’t disappear after the first few scenes.

With Nick in the slammer indefinitely, Tommy and Nickie adopt the then-teenage Frankie Castelluccio as their official third member and a little brother of sorts. They set him up with the alluring Mary Delgado (portrayed by Haley Hannah), who not only becomes the mother of his child but also convinces him to change the spelling of his would-be stage name “Frankie Valley” to the more Italian-influenced “Frankie Valli.” If not for the real-life tragedy that befell Frankie and Mary’s family, she would have easily been the funniest character throughout the show. Hannah portrays Mary with a teasingly biting wit that only gets to shine in her first scene before the character’s sarcasm becomes embittered and mean-spirited.

After a ridiculous performance of “I Go Ape” with trial Four Lovers member Hank Majewski, played by the wildly hilarious Mark Ryan Anderson, the group reluctantly takes the advice of another pure-comedy character, the wonderfully wacky weirdo known as Joe Pesci. Mike D’Amico seems determined to steal every scene that his tongue-in-cheek farce of a character is in, and, if audience laughter is any indication, he succeeds. After pestering Tommy to meet with his band recommendation, Joe locks in the foursome that would soar to unthinkable heights.

As the Four Seasons member who spearheaded the creation of Jersey Boys, Bob Gaudio’s turn at narration feels more substantial than the other three and gives off an air of objective truth. However, following the effortless bravado of Leland’s narration as Tommy is no easy task for the actor portraying the more mild-mannered Bob for a longer portion of the runtime.

Thankfully, this production has the affable Lukas Poost, who’s becoming something of a Gateway regular. Poost portrays Bob Gaudio with confidence and charm, carrying himself with poise as he articulates his character’s thoughts with an approachable smile. Though Bob’s side-deal with Frankie can be read as a bit underhanded, Poost adds a layer of sincerity that makes his intentions seem altruistic.

His outstanding tenor vocals are best showcased in songs like “Cry for Me” and “December, 1963 (Oh What a Night),” and with a voice like that, it’s a shame that his character chooses to step out the spotlight when he pushes for the Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons rebrand.

After the first official act ends on a major cliffhanger, the cool, largely silent Nickie (Matt Faucher) finally speaks up to correct some of the information presented thus far and to fill in the gaps that brought the Four Seasons to their nasty predicament.

Though his time as narrator is short, Faucher makes every line count, revealing how aggressively funny he is, whether making wisecrack remarks or throwing a massive tantrum over towel etiquette.

As the self-described Ringo of the group, Nickie’s contributions to the Four Seasons’ sound and legacy are often overlooked, but Faucher’s shocking acting performance and deep bass vocals make his character an absolute highlight of the production.

The decision to make Frankie Valli the final narrator in Jersey Boys is both a wise choice narratively but also a clear save-the-best-for-last scenario. Frankie’s powerful falsetto voice is essentially the defining factor of the Four Seasons sound, he was the band’s lead singer and frontman, and he’s the one that carried the group’s name into 1970s and beyond as Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons.

Finding an actor who can capture that iconic falsetto sound must be incredibly daunting. The Gateway found two. During opening night (when the review was conducted), Pablo David Laucerica masterfully recreated the voice of a legend, belting out hits like “My Mother’s Eyes” and “Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You.”

Like his remarkable voice, Laucerica’s acting has immense range, portraying a flawed icon with great emotional depth and nuance. The part of Frankie alternates between Laucerica and Coby C. Oram at select performances.

Additional standout performances include David Engel as the fabulous Bob Crewe, Luke Darnell as the formidable Gyp DeCarlo and Aja Goes as the insightful reporter Lorraine. Appearing seemingly simple, the set design holds a few exciting secrets with some eye-catching lighting design. And the stylish costumes are dripping with Four Seasons flair.

Overall, The Gateway’s Jersey Boys is a spectacle for the ears that tells a rapid-fire story from squalor to stardom that’s rife with betrayal, brotherhood and brilliant music.

The show runs through Sunday, September 10 at The Gateway Playhouse in Bellport. For tickets and more info, call 631-286-1133 or visit thegateway.org.