Jersey Boys

The rise and fall of the original formation of The Four Seasons, comprised of Tommy DeVito (Vincent Piazza), Nick Massi (Michael Lomenda), Frankie Valli (John Lloyd Young), and Bob Gaudio (Erich Bergen), is presented. Their story as a collective begins in 1951 in a crime-ridden neighborhood in Belleville, New Jersey. For boys, in general, to get out of the neighborhood, they either have to join the Army, get mobbed up, or become famous. Tommy and Nick try options two and three, they, who perform in a combo with Tommy's brother Nick (Johnny Cannizzaro) when they aren't committing petty crimes, into which they began to pull impressionable sixteen-year-old Frankie. Frankie, with his distinctive tenor voice which places him in the good books and heart of local mobster Angelo "Gyp" DeCarlo (Christopher Walken), already dreamt of stardom, which didn't seem to be happening. Tommy decides to let Frankie front the band for their mutual benefit. With Nicky no longer involved, Tommy, the de facto group manager, knows they need a fourth to move to the next level. That fourth ends up being songwriter Bob, who, against Tommy's wishes, would only collaborate with the group as a full partner, as opposed to a paid contractor as Tommy wants, he not wanting the addition of a keyboardist within their pure guitar sound. Bob's primary want to join the group is to write songs specifically to showcase Frankie's voice. But even to reach the top forty, they learn they need money to make money, which Tommy gets the way he always does without really thinking through the consequences. Beyond those money issues eventually coming back to bite them after they achieve fame and wealth, their differences as people and bandmates will lead to their demise as a foursome. Tommy, the A-personality, didn't want to cede control as the fame led to an even greater sense of entitlement. Nick always threatened to form his own band when things were going badly, deep in his heart knowing that Frankie, and to a lesser extent, Bob, were the stars. Despite the fame, Frankie could never shake being from the old neighborhood and what that meant, especially in relation to Tommy and Gyp. And Bob, the straight-laced one, only really had his and Frankie's backs, which fundamentally was against Tommy's control.