Jersey Boys

Captain's log: It's been more than 36 hours since I saw Jersey Boys at the Piccadilly Theatre. Will I ever stop humming 'Big Girls Don't Cry?' Reason tells me it's unlikely.

I jest of course, but if it's not 'Big Girls ...' it's 'Sherry' and if it's not 'Sherry' it's 'Can't Take My Eyes Off You' - the songs of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons seem to have set up camp in my cranium for the foreseeable future and I'm more than okay with that.

In musical terms, Jersey Boys sits somewhere between the Les Mis model (all singing, no stopping) and the more universal model (some singing, a bit of talking, maybe a dance routine, then more singing.) Though there are chunks of dialogue - mainly narration from one of its four leads - the songs come thick and fast and the set, much like my feet during 'Oh What a Night', just can't keep still. It's punchy, energetic and evokes a sense of the changing world in the early nineteen sixties.

People can be a bit skeptical about jukebox musicals like this one. In the likes of Mamma Mia and We Will Rock You the stories are bent around the songs and though they're both highly enjoyable shows, you have to wonder what makes them any better than a concert by a tribute act. Jersey Boys is a different beast. It tells the band's story, one that's set in stone and the songs just sort of compliment it - snapshots of a particular moment in their history. It's a format that really works.

Tommy, Nick, Bobby and Frankie were brought up on the tough streets of New Jersey and thought their careers took them all over the world, they were never fully able to leave their hometown behind them. Though it's a story of their rise to fame, Jersey Boys is punctuated with heartbreak, danger and at times, tragedy. Unexpectedly, some of the stand-out moments feature the band's less familiar songs such as Frankie's solo 'My Eyes Adored You' which he sings to his distant wife as their marriage disintegrates. Matt Corner's stunning vocals earned him one of the biggest cheers of the night.

Though there was discord behind the scenes, on stage the Four Seasons were always in perfect harmony and every time the band members sing together it's easy to see why Jersey Boys has become such a phenomenon. Those voices are so clear, so seamless and SO impressive. I felt like I was going to spontaneously combust every time they sang - there's no denying that if I'd have been around in the early 60's I'd have been a major Four Seasons fangirl!

Yes, I think it's fair to say that Jersey Boys, now in it's eight year in the West End, could be the next big thing.