do i dare disturb the universe?

There’s something going on nearly every week this summer! It’s gonna be great :)

• L’s birthday party
• Family visit to KC for Memorial Day festivities 
• K’s visit to KC
• Nelson-Atkins Museum for “Inventing the Modern World” exhibit
• Chicago visit to see family, friends and White City exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry
• Matt’s move to his gorgeous new apartment
• REO Speedwagon/STYX concert (maybe)
• Independence Day extravaganza festivities
• Working for the All-Star Game 
• Chicago/Doobies concert (maybe)
• Summer Homecoming
• Crosby, Stills and Nash concert
• P and J’s wedding
• Boston concert
• A second trip to Chicago??

My earliest memory of music must have taken place when I was 2 or 3, because my family was still living in Glen Ellyn.

I remember sitting in the living room, upset about something silly, most likely throwing a toddler tantrum. My parents were trying to get me to calm down. Finally, one said, “Big Girls Don’t Cry.”

Moments later, they began spinning a record on their record machine. The music that played forever stayed with me. The voice behind the song was something so unique, so unlike anything I had ever heard.  It was The Four Seasons’ Frankie Valli singing “Big Girls Don’t Cry.”

That’s all of the memory I have; who knows if the song got me to stop crying. But Valli’s unique voice certainly caught my ear, and The Four Seasons were among my favorite bands growing up.

So I was beyond excited to go to “Jersey Boys” yesterday. In short, it was fantastic. The actors portraying the famous quartet were dead ringers for the originals, as were their voices. The story was very unique. Unlike “Mamma Mia,” which likewise wove the music of a famous band, ABBA, into a musical, the music of The Four Seasons was part of the musical. The musical told the story of the Four Seasons. The music was a part of the history.

A few scenes recalled The Four Seasons’ experiences on live TV, such as American Bandstand. They were performing their songs in front of the American Bandstand video camera on the stage. For an added touch – in the background – actual footage from the 1960s of the real Four Seasons played…. The video footage and the actors on the stage were completely in sync! Even the camera angle was right. Awesome.

One other cool facet of the musical – there were only three female actors in the musical. Yet, there were probably 15 or so female parts, several of which were speaking roles. I was amazed by how these three women were able to transform their appearances so  dramatically. I had no idea that three ladies played all the female roles until the grand finale! Amazing.

The only negatives: the female singers’ voices weren’t fantastic, but they didn’t sing much. The story wasn’t very accurate, but I guess they did what they had to do to make the story more interesting. It was approved by the real-life Four Seasons. I wish there had been more dynamic dancing, but this musical didn’t really lend itself to lots of dance. Finally, there was quite a bit of profane language in the musical, but the program – and advertisements – labeled it as “Please note, there will be authentic Jersey language in this show.” What??!  If I were from Jersey, I would be offended …  so now “Jersey language” is synonymous with “profane language”???

But, overall, Matt and I had an amazing afternoon at the show, and I’ve had those tunes stuck in my head ever since!