‘Jersey Boys’ at the Fox Just OK

2012 May 29

I can’t help but compare the calibre of “Jersey Boys” at the Fox in Atlanta to the cast I saw there three years ago.

In an earlier post I said according to the Jersey Boys website we would be seeing the same fantastic actor (Joseph Leo Bwarie) who played Frankie Valli here previously. Unfortunately, Atlanta got someone else, who lacked the voice and the energy as Bwarie.

The cast and the production lacked the energy and electricity the previous cast brought. I’m not the only one who felt this way. A couple sitting in the row in front of me had seen the show three times and felt the same way about this cast and this Frankie. A few of us in the audience also agreed that we didn’t feel that heartfelt emotion that we had felt seeing previous productions.

The cast is good but the staging, singing and acting pales in comparison to other “Jersey Boys” productions.

Book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice; music by Bob Gaudio; lyrics by Bob Crewe; direction by Des McAnuff. “Jersey Boys” at the Fox Theatre runs through June 10.

Cast:

Brandon Andrus

Colby Foytik

Jason Kappus

Brad Weinstock

Barry Anderson

Thomas Fiscella

Stephen Cerf

E. Clayton Cornelious

Kaleigh Cronin

Brent DiRoma

Larry Esparza

Natalie Gallo

Devon Goffman

Wes Hart

Dave Hiltebrand

Ruby Lewis

Christopher Messina

Skye Scott

Carlos Valdes

Michelle Pruiett

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Susan Asher

A former dance student and actor who trained in New York with Maggie Flanigan, Susan is a PR professional who writes about the arts. She has studied jazz with pianist Connie Crothers, and guitar and natural-foods cooking with Berklee graduate and James Beard award-winning chef Peter Berley.

Susan reviews the performing and culinary arts as a hobby and often receives free tickets to shows or free food from the venues she writes about. She reviews everything on merit alone and receives no money for any of her reviews. While she loves to attend theater and eat out, freebies will not sway her from stating her honest opinion.

My Favorite Band in the World!

The Microscopic Septet is the greatest band I've ever heard in my life. I first heard them when I was living in New York working in a club called The Dive in 1981. I wrote home to my friends working at my old college radio station, WUOG in Athens, Ga., about this incredible house band called the Microscopic Septet. These guys blew me away! I wrote: it's like Duke Ellington, meets the Art Ensemble of Chicago, the World Saxophone Quartet, and Spike Jones.

Whenever one of the band's four sax players was out, a former band member, who I thought was one of the greatest sax players of all time, sat in. John Zorn was like a bubbly sprite who spilled joy everywhere and added sounds reminiscent of Ornette Coleman and Anthony Braxton.

To this day, when I listen to the Micros I dance and laugh. Watch the video above, and see if you don't do the same. I know it's not the best picture quality, but listen to the music and let me know your thoughts. If you know of another band whose greatness comes close to the Micros, please contact me. Because no matter how well-known or unknown they are, I'd love to hear them. Click on the video above to see the Microscopic Septet perform "Lobster in the Limelight." You can see the full-size screen of it on YouTube.

‘Jersey Boys’ at the Fox Just OK

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Susan Asher

My Favorite Band in the World!

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