This evening, 29th February 2008, I went to see the Jersey Boys theatre preview. I thought it was brilliant. It must be a very hard task getting someone who can even sing like Frankie Valli and they found an excellent person to do the job.

The whole thing entertained me from start to finish. The music was fantastic, as were all the "boys". The audience loved it and showed their appreciation in full, and I would thoroughly recommend anyone to go - a great night out.

Christina Brooks
Highgate, London.
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What a show!! Saw this on Saturday night (1st March 2008) and was blown away by the quality of the singing, particularly the guy playing Frankie Valli – he was spot on with the falsetto. The show was slick and told a long, complicated story without making it dull.

The many scenery changes were beautifully timed, and we were particularly impressed with the scene depicting the Ed Sullivan Show, where original audience film footage was incorporated to give it authenticity. To add to the excitement, the real Bob Gaudio was in the audience four rows behind us.

We were in Stalls row G seats 21 to 23 and had an excellent view. Plenty of leg room and heads level with the actors, so no stiff necks. Can’t wait to go again!!

Avril
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Saw 'Jersey Boys' on 1st March 2008, last minute tickets, dress circle slips at £20 each. What fantastic value, yes you have to lean forward slightly but the view of the stage is unobstructed, you get great space and you also get a real feel for how the audience are responding to the show - I've been at the front of the stalls too often I think!!

On the subject of the audience, the overall profile was much older than I've seen before. There were clearly a great many Frankie Valli / Four Seasons fans and they absolutely loved the show and there were several spontaneous outbursts of applause during the show and a standing ovation at the end.

Its not quite my musical era but the performances were absolutely terrific from the entire cast. You don't need to be a Franki Vali fan to enjoy it, rather a fan of musicals!

Celia
Ashford, Kent
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Jersey Boys is a great show, but the stage is extremely high (hence cheaper front row no doubt). No orchestral pit, either, but enough legroom so you’re not facing a wall even though that’s what it feels like. It must be about four feet high… I needed to ask for a booster cushion! It’s a very steep look up and I would def. advise against front row (B) stalls.
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I saw 'Jersey Boys' yesterday (12th March 2008). I thought seats V 3 and 4 might not be very good; there was, however, no problem at all . Some of the drumming affects your diaphragm so I feel this is one show where being further back is not a bad place to be. There was ample leg room and I am 6' 2". I did however have a 20 stone man mountain with a head the size of a medicine ball in front of me which would have been ok if he hadn't inclined his head all the time to the right (fortunately he moved one seat to the right in the second half and I had a perfect view ). I also has two woman sitting next to me who were eating the most revolting savoury snacks that made me hold my nose for much of the performance, so my attention was not as good as it might have been.

I have to say that although I quite liked some of the songs when they first came out in the 60's I was not a blown away fan so saw the show with an open mind

The singing was excellent, incredible that they even managed to find someone who can maintain that high falsetto. I only hope this one can manage to keep doing it without damaging his vocal cords like the first one on Broadway did.

One constructive comment that I feel is relevant is that they featured perhaps too many of their songs including some that were not so good and they abbreviated most of their best ones. They did have the chance to put that right in the finale if they had done as they do for 'Mamma Mia' and end up with 10 minutes or so reprising their best hits and leaving people going home on a real high. They do sing one and it received a standing ovation but partly from people near the back (like ourselves) who had to stand to be able to see but if time is of the essence I would have preferred them to cut some inferior numbers and give a really good ending performance of their very best songs.

Having been around in the early 60's I don't recall that there was such gratuitous use of the 'f word' then as we get thrown at us in this show. I didn't live in New York but I did feel it is more recent use of that word than was the case then. I have no doubt whatsoever that there will be many who will really dislike that misuse of language and object to the continuous repetition which really is not necessary.

I'll be going again soon with a group, and that will be most interesting as it has many real Franki Valli fans who just can't wait to see the show.
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Definitely one for the Frankie Valli fans. Think 'tribute band with bits of dialogue,' rather than a full blown musical. Which is a shame because the bits of dialogue there were, when they got beyond the 'and next ...', stage, were quite engaging.

There's some great singing - especially from Ryan Molloy as Frankie. Yet despite the talent in the cast 'the band' lacked that elusive superstar quality. And Molloy had a corpse-like expression on his face that never once shifted throughout the entire show. Maybe he was just concentrating on the vocals, maybe he was having an off day. I'd like to think Valli enjoyed his success - and Molloy enjoyed the audience's standing ovation. Yes, it was one of those nights.

This is not 'Mamma Mia,' it's not 'Hairspray.' Though there was a good deal of head bobbing during the performance, by and large the audience was fairly muted - but still we were forced to our feet at the end. Not sure what the audience was cheering, perhaps it was Frankie Valli. It's entertaining, just not blockbuster entertaining. Maybe it'll sharpen up over the weeks.

A word of caution. The sound balance isn't too bad (for the West End) but the vibrations may just dislodge the screws in any replacement body parts; it's that kind of audience and that kind of sound system. Rest assured, it mostly calms down after the opening number. Just take care when leaving your seats.

March 14th 2008.
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Can I add a comment on Row L of the Stalls at the Prince Edward ('Jersey Boys'). We sat in 26 and 27 - and had a good view of the stage. Sight lines at seat 27 were reasonable but not the best - missed the video screens on stage right and a little bit of the action that went on stage right upstage. Sight lines from seat 26 were fine.

Leg room very good because of the aisle in front (main reason for choosing this row). However the seats are very low for some reason, and if you pull your legs in - your knees end up near your ears (perhaps that's a little bit exaggerated - but you know what I mean). So although you can stretch out - actually it wasn't that comfortable!

Note also that these seats are right in front of the loudspeakers - and I would recommend ear-plugs if you sit here - 'Jersey Boys' is a very loud show!

There is also a rather funny aisle that runs down the side of the auditorium that you haven't shown on your plan.
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Oh, what a mistake! The current production of 'Jersey Boys' has the great songs, excellent direction, a set that excites and a true-ish story that works well. This production should be accessible to all BUT due to the use of the F-Word being used about 10 times more than in 'Avenue Q,' you can’t take your kids to see this. All other references to sex and the mafia would probably go over kids’ heads, but the constant swearing is over the top. A few F-Words would be acceptable due to the subject matter, but it’s too much. During the interval, everyone around me didn’t talk about the show, but the swearing.

I have had the Broadway cast recording, which sounds better than the London Cast (it might have been fined tuned in the studio), but the London Cast is still very good and getting better during the show, as they should do.

The first 45 minutes isn’t the greatest but the last 30 minutes of the first act is theatre near to its finest. The use of video screens and the use of live (I think it was) and archive footage adds great atmosphere. The performances as 'The Four Seasons' got a minute's applause from the audience, but the overall show got a normal sitting down applause at the end (maybe due to the age of the audience, but I also believe it didn’t deserve one). It might be better to have a medley at the end to get people off there feet and on a high when they leave the theatre.

Although I’m 21, I didn’t spot another member of the audience that was under 50. The sound was OK but after songs it became difficult to hear the dialogue for the first few seconds. I sat in the Dress Circle (E 13 and 14), and some things were slightly obstructed (e.g. poles, front of the stage, back of the stage) and I’m sure a stalls seat would offer a better view. I would pay £35 pounds for the top price seats which you can get currently, but at £60, I would be slightly disappointed.

Personally I don’t think this show can survive as the market for it is too niche. I don’t think it’s going to be a success as it is in New York (as it’s a set near the area and is the “American Dream”). It’s an enjoyable show; it’s not a great show. Just be thankful it’s not one of those jukebox shows where they burst into song and it’s really cheesy, (you know what shows I mean; Hint: 'Abba' and 'Queen')!

James F
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Went to see this Tuesday night (25th March 2008). What a great show – we really enjoyed it and would highly recommend it as a good fun night out for all ages (although there is a fair bit of swearing in it – so parents may well want to supply earplugs for younger ones). Judging by the audience reaction they have a big hit on their hands. The cast were superb – no other word for it – we actually saw the understudy for Frankie but his voice was brilliant.

We sat in Row E of the Stalls and the view of the stage was very good - we could really see the whites of their eyes. However personally I would have preferred to have been a few rows back as you do tend to look up most of the time and some parts of the set were a more little difficult to see being low down. Having seen 'Mary Poppins' in the Dress Circle (Row E) I would think this would be a good view too for this show.

We had a bite to eat in Valerie’s Patisserie prior to going to the show and it’s a great little place for a snack or one of their fantastic cakes and a coffee (or be greedy and have both like me!) and only two minutes walk from the theatre.

Lizzie Loves The Theatre
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I recently went to see 'Jersey Boys,' a very last minute decision because we couldn't get in to see' Dirty Dancing.' I had no idea what to expect, I certainly didn't expect to enjoy it as much as I did. We were in the stalls row T as far to the left as you can get, slight restricted view but didn't spoilt what was the most fantastic show.

I consider myself to have been too young to remember the Four Seasons, but was very surprised to be singing along with almost all the songs! My 13 year old daughter recognised many too!

All in all, don't think you have to be 50+ to enjoy this one, it's a great show, a must see!
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Just got back from 'Jersey Boys' with a group of 113 (15th April 2008). The general comment was that everyone I spoke to afterwards loved it but like others who have commented here, there were several complaints about the unnecessary level of swearing. I did feel they have tightened the show up since preview when I last saw it. It is really slick and I enjoyed it much more this time than before.

It helped being in the centre of row L which meant we had no seats in front of us so I could really stretch out and this time there was no obstruction from large heads or horribly annoying smells of disgusting savoury snacks. The old diaphragm did take a bit of a pummelling at times from the drumming which is definitely louder in row L than it was in row V, where I sat last time, but it was really only on two numbers.

Looking at the photos in the programme I think we had Scott Monello as Frankie rather than Ryan Molloy, When he came on I felt sure he was different to the preview performance but if it was Scott then he was excellent and I don't think anyone of my party realised that he was the alternative Frankie. They seemed so pleased with the level of the standing ovation that I got the impression that perhaps a Matinee audience might possibly be even more appreciative of their performance than an evening audience as so many there were fans back in the 60's. It certainly applied to many of my group.
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