I was Karen’s emergency backup date for Jersey Boys after her regular date had a last minute cancellation.
We were going to the Hard Rock to eat at Renegade for dinner, but they were closed (a previous visit to Renegade for my birthday can be found in this post). They have new hours and are closed Monday/Tuesday. Based on the crowds, I can see why. It was a wasteland of nothing there. So we ended up at Tatu instead. Renegade is a great BBQ restaurant and she’s never been, so I was excited to take her there, but Tatu (Asian Fusion) wasn’t bad. But if you thought Renegade was overpriced, it’s got nothing on Tatu. For a relatively casual Tuesday night dinner with no drinks (tap water only) it was nearly $80 with tip. But the flavours were quite enjoyable: I had crispy orange beef and she had Shanghai Sirloin. I gave up on chopsticks quarter of the way through and went to silverware as did she. We were a bit hurried due to the time of picking a new restaurant and they did a good job to accommodate us. The service was excellent, and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Tatu to anyone. It’s sort of like Chinois in Vegas, actually and that’s a good thing.
So, we got to Jersey Boys a few minutes early, Karen gave her car to Valet. (Oh, yeah, I met her at her place, and we went in one car). The play was really good. The lead Valli guy was the same one I saw in Las Vegas the first time I saw the show. He was good. In fact, the entire cast was good except the redhead who had a good voice, but it didn’t meld well with Valli’s and it was noticeable. The second time I saw Jersey Boys, was sitting near David Beckham and that was in this report.
The cast was, how shall I put this delicately, a bit gayer than your typical cast. There’s nothing wrong with that but it’s hard to believe a limp wristed Mafia Boss. It’s an acting job, so maybe try to act straight? It didn’t ruin my enjoyment of the play at all, but it was noticeable because a number of the actors were affected by this.
This play was well received by the audience, but I am reminded why I eschew theatre here: the crowds are “yokels” at best and talk to each other way too much during the show. They also sing along which is not acceptable in most musicals, and it’s not acceptable in this one. The clapping along can go either way, though I’m not a fan. The crowds in Vegas and London (and I assume New York) know better. This show got the obligatory standing ovation, and it was well deserved. The Playbill for this version of the show was neat because it listed the songs scheduled for inclusion but that didn’t make the cut. Two thumbs up, maybe three.
And a special shout out to JMJ who I’m not giving up on yet 🙂
And a sad shake of the head to the idiots of the world who use poor excuses to justify inexcusable actions. I won’t embarrass the person by mentioning his name, but you’re smart enough to know better. Shame on you.