As I referenced in a previous post, we had a very theatrical weekend to end the month of May. After seeing Mary Poppins on Saturday with the kids, we went to see Jersey Boys (sans kids) on Sunday.

After seeing the spectacle that was the Poppins production, with its elaborate sets and top notch performers (the two leads, Mary and Bert, were from the original Broadway cast), I know I was expecting less from Jersey Boys. Certainly the theater was "less". Not that it isn't a beautiful old theater with tons of ornamental decoration and engravings and embossings - it is very pretty inside, but it is also smaller and the main floor is very flat compared to the Cadillac Palace (where Poppins was) or the Ford Center (aka the Oriental) (where I saw Wicked). There is a mezzanine and a couple of steep balconies.

And the sets at first glance when you walk into the theater are much less elaborate. A lot of metal, catwalks and fence-like meshes. I didn't know what to expect from the show itself, having heard wonderful things about it, but not sure what it would be other than performers singing Four Seasons' songs.

But it was more than that. There was a compelling story to tell. I don't know if it's all strictly true or if dramatic license was taken with parts of it. But it is a really interesting story about how the four young men from a tough Jersey neighborhood formed a quartet and, finally, getting the right mix of songwriting and vocal ability, hit it really big.

But while you can take the boys out of Jersey, apparently you can't take the Jersey out of the boys...at least not out of all of them. And one of them had talent that was far above the others - that being Frankie Valli, of course. Bob Gaudio had another kind of talent, songwriting. He was a hit machine with his creations.

Being performers took the predictable toll on their personal lives, and their background came back to haunt them with the Mafia being a constant background presence.

Then there is the music. I liked a lot of Frankie Valli/Four Seasons material, but it was never the top of my list. It wasn't the sort of stuff I wanted to play in a band, so their songs flew a little under the radar for me.

As I heard them, however, it brought me back to the times when some of these songs were hits. It made me remember listening to them on cassette tapes at parties in college at our big old rambling house. And with the new context for them, the societal background and the history, the music became as powerful as just about any music in a stage production has ever become for me.

In short, I loved it. I'd like to see it again. I think I'd enjoy it even more the second time.

If you want to check out additional info about this production, here's the website for Jersey Boys Chicago.