Review: We still can’t take our eyes off Jersey Boys

Oh what a night. Jersey Boys might be strutting and snapping their way through the city for the third time in 10 years, but the suits are as sharp, the steps are as slick and, most importantly, the music is as timeless as ever.

Oh what a night. Jersey Boys might be strutting and snapping their way through the city for the third time in 10 years, but the suits are as sharp, the steps are as slick and, most importantly, the music is as timeless as ever.

The musical theatre phenomenon first stormed through Melbourne in 2009 and went on to break box office records, playing to 1.6 million people in Australia and New Zealand, and returning to the city to meet the overwhelming demand.

STARS ON THE JERSEY BOYS RED CARPET

JERSEY BOYS BACK TO WOW A NEW GENERATION

Thomas McGuane, Cameron MacDonald, Ryan Gonzalez and Glaston Toft in the Melbourne production of ‘Jersey Boys’. Picture: Jeff Busby

Glaston Toft, Ryan Gonzalez, Thomas McGuane and Cameron MacDonald. Picture: Jeff Busby

The cast of the Melbourne production of ‘Jersey Boys’. Picture: Jeff Busby

Glaston Toft, Ryan Gonzalez, Thomas McGuane and Cameron MacDonald. Picture: Jeff Busby

Thomas McGuane, Ryan Gonzalez, Cameron MacDonald and Glaston Toft. Picture: Jeff Busby

Glaston Toft, Cameron MacDonald, Ryan Gonzalez and Thomas McGuane. Picture: Jeff Busby

Luigi Lucente, Cristina D’Agostino, Scott McConnell, Mackenzie Dunn, Josh Mulheran and Mia Dabkowski-Chandler. Picture: Jeff Busby

Audiences couldn’t get enough of the rags-to-riches story of the Four Seasons, who emerged from the mean streets of New Jersey in the early 1960s to battle their way from being “four guys under a street light” to a chart-topping pop phenomenon that sold more than 175 million records.

Cameron MacDonald brings a tough-talking swagger to Tommy DiVito, the petty criminal and street hoodlum who founded the group — and nearly brought it crashing down.

Glaston Toft provides a light touch and comic relief to the straight-shooting, pragmatic bass man Nick Massi, and Thomas McGuane is just the right perfect combination of dreamy idealism and steely resolve as Bob Gaudio, the band’s musical driving force.

And in the key role of Frankie Valli, Ryan Gonzalez showcases the graft and grit that took the band to the very top and, crucially, nails that unmistakeable falsetto voice.

But it’s the music that’s the real star. The razor-sharp renditions of Sherry, Big Girls Don’t Cry, Walk Like a Man and Can’t Take My Eyes Off You had the audience at the Regent Theatre hollering for more.

Rating: Four stars (out of five)