Places, Please!: Becoming a Jersey Boy (29 page)

“We try and follow our favorites as best we can in an appreciative and non-intrusive way. In fact, some actors have become friends. In addition, I have made many great friends who are also fans. We have dinners, parties, fan get-togethers, and even the occasional bickering, so in that way we truly are an extended family!

“It’s never the same show twice for me and I have the same enthusiasm on the 43rd show as I did on the very first one. Once I hear the opening notes of ‘Oh, What A Night,’ the charge comes right back. I have seen twenty different actors play Frankie in every company except Australia, and the real thrill for me is seeing new actors in the roles we have come to know and love. Several other
Jersey Boys
fans and I often quote lines from the show when the timing is right and it always garners a hearty laugh! Most of them, of course, come from Tommy or Crewe. Elice and Brickman sure gave you guys some great material with which to work!”

–Gary Neuberg (New York, NY)

“Being a big Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons fan, the music always takes me to a better place!
Jersey Boys
has the combination of the greatest music, along with a story that makes you laugh, cry, and root for four guys with all odds against them. From the minute I saw it back at La Jolla Playhouse in 2004, I predicted to my husband that
Jersey Boys
would win Best Musical at the Tony Awards and so would Christian Hoff for Best Supporting Actor. It was an amazing experience to watch such a masterpiece in La Jolla. So great, in fact, that my husband (who also loved the show, but is not quite as nuts as I am) suggested that we create
Jersey Boys Blog
(jerseyboysblog.com).

“The following year, it was electrifying to see
Jersey Boys
on Broadway, and each and every time that I’ve seen it on Broadway and all over the country it’s been like a completely new experience; I am always discovering something new about the music, the lines, the nuances onstage, the scenes, and the actors. So, why do I come back again and again? Along with the music and the great story, it’s the live theatre experience! Considering it’s live theatre, it's always new and I especially love seeing various cast members' portrayals. Each cast member makes the role their own.

“It’s meant so much to my life!
Jersey Boys
is a very inspirational story about never giving up on your dreams, no matter how tough it gets. Along with the inspirational story, we have had the phenomenal opportunity to have met and to have interviewed some amazing cast members, crew members, and creative team members. We've also met the real Four Seasons! It’s been a dream come true!”

–Susie Skarl (Las Vegas, NV)

“It’s an addiction! I can't get enough. Watching
Jersey Boys
makes me smile. When it’s done, I want to see it again and again. I love the music, and the great vocals add so much to the experience. I feel like I’m seeing The Four Seasons live in concert.

“The show has practically become a big part of my everyday life. I visit the
Jersey Boys Blog
at least once a day and check out what the
Jersey Boys
cast and fans are up to on Facebook. I’ve met a lot of
Jersey Boys
fans online and have met a few of them in person. Also, a huge part of my expenses have been related to seeing
Jersey Boys
(wink).

“All of my four trips out of state (Hawaii) last year were to go watch the show. Last year alone, I saw it on Broadway (two trips), Las Vegas, and Chicago (which I visited for the first time and by myself). I’ll be going to see it again on Broadway in May and November of this year.”

–Nancy J. Dela Cruz (Honolulu, HI)

“This show has meant a lot to me. I really love the story behind the Four Seasons, and who the four members were involved with to get to where they are now. I’ve made some really good friends thanks to this show, not just friends from Toronto, but in the United States and London as well. The love for this show is so great between our
Jersey Boys
‘family.’

“I would like to thank all the amazing actors and crew members who are involved in any and every production of
Jersey Boys
around the world. It’s always so great to see and meet the actors after the show; they are all just so nice to talk to. And it has been such a pleasure to get to know more about the songs and stories behind the Four Seasons.”

–Frances Fong-Lee (Richmond Hill, ON)

“My first trip to
Jersey Boys
was for my birthday, four girlfriends running in the rain to make the last bell. We had a most memorable evening. It was elevating! I raved about the show to everyone, and the next week I took my mother and her sister (who was visiting from Ireland). I took my uncle, who couldn't remember the last time he had been out past midnight. I took my great friend Terry who comes once a year to catch some Toronto theatre. Then for Christmas, I went with a friend I met at the stage door. I reconnected on Facebook with a friend from University and we had a fabulous evening in January! I even popped in by myself for a matinee when I came to the city.

“Why do I keep coming back? Guess I found a show that captures all the essential elements of great theatre. For me, it's the music. A tried and tested core of great songs; the story of the inspiration to create them and the drive to perform. It’s a depiction of a different time in the music industry. It's also movement. I love the physical drive behind the narration and songs. The simplicity of the set constantly drives the characters and keeps them on the move. Most important: the cast. I’m told there are other cities with other performers doing this show. It’s unimaginable! Our cast is magnificent! Every time I have seen this show there has been a memorable moment where one actor sets out the most magical delivery of a line. It would break your bleedin’ heart!

“I’ve taken young people, seniors, friends I haven’t seen in years, and people I hardly know. We have all had the most marvelous theatre experience possible, and we are still talking about it. I mean, I know I have brilliant instincts. But it's nice when everyone around you agrees...”

–Nicola Hengst (Little Britain, ON)

APPENDIX II

THE BELMONT TAVERN

As old as the town itself
,
the Belmont Tavern in Belleville
,
New Jersey is as authentic an Italian immigrant restaurant experience as you can get
.
The proprietor
,
who goes by no more of a name than
“
Jimmy
,”
knows everything that has ever happened in this part of town
,
and knew the Four Seasons as they were coming up
.
My visit to this restaurant
,
and my experience with Jimmy
,
was one I will never forget
.
And now I kind of feel like someday
,
and that day may never come
,
Jimmy may call on me to do a service for him
…

Belleville, New Jersey. Population: 35,000. Three square miles of congested land stuck between a highway, a landfill, crime-ridden downtown Newark, and a river laced with oil and refuse. From the original French, Belleville means “beautiful city.” But one could easily debate the merits of that name.

“Jimmy! My name is Dan and I play Tommy DeVito in the Canadian company of
Jersey Boys
. Your restaurant is famous in our world, and I’d love to come visit. Will you be there on Monday night?” Jimmy is the owner of the Belmont Tavern, a legendary New Jersey institution, and I have heard that he is the guy to talk to if you want to hear stories from back in the day.

“Yeah, I’ll be here.”

My wife and I arrange to meet our friends Jessica and Kent on Monday night for what I keep calling a “dinner adventure.” I remind everyone that I am not sure if this place will be any good; I just feel a need to visit. The restaurant has been around since the early days of the Four Seasons, and is on the short list of places that Tommy DeVito and Frankie Valli still hang out in today.

Frankie invited us all to his sound-check before one of his own concerts in Toronto.

©Daniel Robert Sullivan

“Do you think you’ll get any special treatment?” Our friends ask this as we jump into their car.

“No. They don’t know me or anything. I just want to get a feel for what the place is like. I’m hoping Jimmy will make time to tell us a bit about what the neighborhood was like back in the 50s and 60s, but he might be too busy. Who knows?”

We drive from Manhattan out into the vast suburbs of New Jersey. We ride in style in an SUV with a sunroof the size of a fresco at the Sistine Chapel. (And our friends humbly insist that the car is not actually an SUV, for an SUV would be a lot bigger. But Cara and I still have room to waltz in the back seat, so I’m not sure I believe them.) We have printed directions from Google, and a GPS for backup. The drive should take twenty minutes at the most.

An hour later we have to call another friend for help.

“Gina, you grew up in New Jersey. How do we get to the Belmont Tavern on Bloomfield Avenue?”

“You guys need to get back on the highway. There are two Bloomfield Avenues, and you’re on the wrong one.” The suburbs of New Jersey foil Google and GPS with their duplicitous street names.

We get back on the highway, find the correct exit, and quickly pass two boarded-up schools. One of them actually has a sign that reads “Girl’s Entrance” over its side door, so I can assume it is a school that has been boarded-up for a long, long time. We ride alongside a river. Or is it a creek? Whatever its label, it is no more than a path of dirty water chunked full of old tires. (Jessica calls it Belleville’s Lazy River Ride.)

As we get closer to the center of town, we begin to travel along Tommy DeVito Drive. We pass Tommy DeVito’s boyhood home, a typical brick-bottom, wood-top white house at one end of a congested road. And then we see the Belmont.

For all its history and lore, the Belmont Tavern ain’t much to look at.

The Belmont is a small, brick building with blinds covering its two front windows, making it impossible to see inside. It is stuck between a West Indian grocery and a live poultry warehouse. There is no one on the dark street as we pull up outside, so we are convinced the place is going to be empty. The Belmont has a few generic beer signs and one placard that touts its famous Chicken Savoy. I have heard that the Chicken Savoy is delicious, but I am feeling a little weird about it now that I see the live poultry warehouse right next door.

We walk slowly to the front door, each of us city-folk a bit wary of what may be on the other side. I step forward to be the first one through, as I am the one that convinced everyone to join me out here in the first place. I open the door, and can instantly sense that the place is jam-packed full of diners. Our adventure begins.

“Daniel Robert Sullivan! Get over here!” Five men drinking at the bar have seen me come in, and they know my name. Now, Jimmy-the-owner is the only person I have spoken to on the phone, and I only gave him my first name. Clearly, these five guys at the bar have Googled me and have memorized my full name.

Their accents are just as strong as I hoped. They are just as boisterous as I imagined. And they are far nicer than I could have asked for.

The guys inundate me with questions, each fighting for a turn to speak. They want to know all about the show up in Canada. They want to know where I am from. They want to tell me about Belleville. They want me to sing. We’ve been inside only two minutes.

Jimmy fights his way through the guys to introduce himself, and seems genuinely happy that I have arrived. He says it is “real good” to have a Jersey Boy here in the bar, and that he hopes these guys will leave me alone long enough for us to eat. (He doesn’t realize that I don’t want to be left alone, that I want to visit with all of them.)

Our server comes over to usher us to a table, a prime table in the corner that has been waiting for our arrival. The place really is packed, and we have to maneuver around fifteen checkered tablecloths before reaching our own. The voices in here are loud, accented, and joyous. Every rising tone has the sound of a story that just has to be told.

We order a carafe of chilled Chianti and dive into the menu. I eat Italian food all the time, but I must admit that there are a number of items on this menu that I don’t recognize. Actually, the entire third page is made up of items I don’t recognize. My group leaves it to me to do the ordering, but I think it smarter to ask for recommendations.

Our server leads us through descriptions of the popular items, and we end up ordering heaps of Shrimp Beeps, Clams Oreganato, and fresh Italian Bread. We follow that with a giant bowl of Ziti Pot Cheese and two overflowing platters of “Mad” Chicken and the famous Chicken Savoy. I choose not to think about the fact that the chicken we are eating was probably an actual resident of “the old neighborhood” just days ago.