They’ve been working their way back to you, DC— and oh what a night do they have in store for you! That’s right— those four fellas standing under a street lamp singing together, making sounds like you never heard before? Jersey Boys is back, baby! For a two-week engagement, passing through The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the second-national tour of Jersey Boys is here, ready to refresh your memory on the heartfelt tale of Mr. Frankie Valli— with an ‘I’— and how he and the fellas became The Four Seasons. Directed By Des McAnuff with Choreography by Sergio Trujillo, all of your favorites are there— everything from “Big Girls Don’t Cry” to “Walk Like a Man”— all enveloped by a gritty albeit heartwarming tale of these four fellas from out under that street lamp in New Jersey.

With simple aesthetics— a scaffolding-framework with a projection screen nested in the center on the upper level and the live band nested below behind a sliding panel on the lower level (by way of Scenic Designer Klara Zieglerova), flashy but smart and very sophisticated jackets of the times for the four fellas (by way of Costume Designer Jess Goldstein) and some simple lighting tactics and techniques, like flooding the scaffolding with blue lights during “Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You” and other mood-appropriate colors that match the emotional verve of other songs (by way of Lighting Designer Howell Binkley), and some retro-looking comic-book style illustrations popping up on the projection screen from time to time to compliment certain musical numbers (by way of Projections Designer Michael Clark)— the overall look of the show is a smooth one, a clean one, a look that sets the stage for this story, which is told in four-parts, or four…seasons…if you will. Zieglerova, Goldstein, Binkley, and Clark seem to have a keen understanding of how to make their specific design elements not only work for the show’s narrative and the lively characters but also how to have them gel with one another and play off one another in a way that really serves the production well.

Sergio Trujillo’s choreography is strongly reminiscent of the times— those Jersey Boys are march-stepping in place with that smart, sharp, upright swing of the arms, whilst smiling and singing, which just adds to the nostalgic trip down memory lane for many of the audience members. For others, Trujillo’s style is an exciting education in what the “original American Boy Bands” moved like; these very crisp and succinct moves are the clean-cut dance style associated with The Jersey Boys (this is even subtly mentioned, without referencing the dancing directly, when Nick Massi starts waxing poetic about ‘The British Invasion’ of music and how the fans of The Four Seasons weren’t putting flowers in their hair and trying to levitate the Pentagon.)

With over two dozen characters in the periphery and background of this narrative of The Four Seasons, it is astonishing to learn that they’re rotated all around and played by just nine individuals (at this performance Jared Chinnock, Amy Coelho, Katie Goffman, Antonio King, Connor Lyon, Kevin Patrick Martin, Sean McGee, Alex Michael Ryan.) Notable standouts include Sean McGee as the flamboyant and fabulous Bob Crewe, who has astonishingly animated facial expressions and body language, adding a real dramatic flare to all of his interactions with the fellas. Antonio King, featured at the top of the show as the French Rapper, and in multiple other roles throughout the performance, has stellar vocals (which are showcased during the curtain-call-finale-number), which truly give Frankie Valli a run for his money when it comes to these glorious upper-falsetto notes. Alec Michael Ryan as the formidable Gyp DeCarlo is spot-on for the character; Ryan is serving up mob-thug realness (though hilarious antics when he starts weeping through “My Mother’s Eyes” in that over-the-top fashion.) And of course, speed-mouth Joey (at this performance Jared Chinnock), who is such a twerpy little mouthpiece that you can’t help but laugh at him. This makes the laugh lines land all the harder when Tommy tells the audience that that little kid is actually Joe Pesci, the famous actor, before he was famous.

Springing into the action, getting the show started, and busting everybody’s…em…chops…is Tommy DeVito (Devon Goffman.) Looking more seasoned than the others, immediately Goffman gives you the sense that he’s the gritty and formative baseline upon which this narrative rock is formed. (It may eventually become Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons…but the Tommy DeVito character don’t ever let you forget that he’s where it all started.) Goffman delivers a smooth talking, slick-rick sort of character in Tommy DeVito, edgy with that unchecked hot-temper on a very short fuse. He’s got solid vocal harmonizing capabilities and a real handle on that true ‘Jersey’ sound, especially when it comes to discussing the rotating doors of the local penitentiary. Well versed in comic delivery, explosive tantrums, solid mid-line harmonizing, and overall adept storytelling, Goffman does a fine justice to Tommy DeVito, even if the character grows less and less likeable as the narrative progresses.

The fresh face of summer is brought to the stage in Bob Gaudio (Eric Chambliss.) There is just something earnest and refreshingly clean about the indefatigable optimism and hope that Chambliss brings to the Gaudio character when he first arrives on the scene. There is this moment, where he’s standing at the front of the stage, in one of the club scenes, rattling off a name-drop list of A-list talent he’s worked with, and then he says ‘…but I’ve never heard a voice like that…’ referencing Frankie Valli; the overwhelming opportunity and hope and eager dreams of joy that wash through his voice and across his face are sheer bliss. He sings smooth, delivering an even sound that really brings the group harmonies together, particularly for numbers like “Big Girls Don’t Cry.” Chambliss has a good vocal feature in “December, 1963 (Oh, What A Night!)” The friendship and partnership that the Gaudio character develops with Frankie Valli feels authentic at every turn; Chambliss has a steady and grounded stage presence that keeps him focused on the verisimilitude of existing in the moment as this character. It’s a delight.

Falling into the role of deadpan, strongly silent, Matt Faucher is bringing a slightly more agitated Nick Massi to the stage for this production of Jersey Boys. While the spitfire one-liner, callback joke of “…maybe I should start my own group…” is still there, it reads with a slightly angry undertone every time it’s delivered. This actually provides a really interesting character track for the explosive moment that Faucher’s character unloads during “the big sit-down” with Gyp and Waxman at the top of the second act. While this bombastic rant, about Tommy’s filthy hotel room habits, is often received with thunderous applause and hilarious laughter as it is delivered, Faucher has laid the ground-work from the moment he takes the narrative wheel so that it doesn’t come flying in from left field. With a booming base voice, and a serious handle on how to maximize laugh potential from some of those quiet one-liners, Faucher takes Massi to a new dynamic level in this production.

Nobody can sing “My Mother’s Eyes” like Frankie Valli (at this performance Justin Albinder.) Initially a little shaky on some of those super screaming falsetto sounds, Albinder quickly finds his footing in the role of the iconic Frankie Valli, relying on his storytelling capabilities to let the audience empathize with him. By the time the second act rolls around, Albinder is delivering top-notch Frankie Valli sounds, particularly during “Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You.” And when he takes up the solo, “Fallen Angel”, you can feel the heartache and the heartbreak behind it. Albinder has great physical dance moves, doing drop half-splits and keeping in enthusiastic and energetic step right alongside the Four Seasons whenever they all take to the stage. Each of the fellas has their own narrative voice; Albinder as Frankie Valli is perhaps the most somber and yet most engaging. You get this gritty, humorous style with Tommy DeVito, this youthful bouncy verve with Bob Gaudio, a deadpan sarcasm rolling off of Nick Massi, but with Valli, Albinder is bringing straight truth, loaded with real emotions and honesty that just wraps the story all up in the end.

So— what a night! Don’t miss your chance to catch these four fellas from out under their street lamp before they head off to someplace else!     

Running Time: Approximately 2 hours and 35 minutes with one intermission

Jersey Boys plays through June 26, 2022 in the Eisenhower Theatre at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, 2700 F Street NW, Washington, DC. For tickets call the box office at (202) 467-4600 or purchase them online