The magic of Broadway
Jersey Boys, a jukebox musical based on the rise and fall of the iconic ‘60s vocal group The Four Seasons, brings the high-energy hits of Frankie Valli and his bandmates along with the story of enduring friendship.
It tells the story of Valli (JC Lawler), Bob Gaudio (Maxx Bouchard), Tommy DeVito (Roger Tipping II), and Nick Massi (Ted Current), who came together as The Four Seasons. The musical is structured as a documentary-style narrative, each character taking a turn to give his take on the story, providing a unique and intimate look into the group’s dynamics. Featuring timeless hits like “Sherry,” “Big Girls Don’t Cry,” “Walk Like a Man” and “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You,” the show is a nostalgic journey through one of America’s greatest musical legacies.
Under the direction of Scott Neese, the production will capture the essence of the original Broadway show while adding its own local flair. Says Neese, “The way the story is told brings the audience into that process. There’s nothing about this show that allows your brain to sit idle for any period of time, it’s constantly moving. I really feel the whole genius is the structure, of spring, summer, fall and winter, that tells you where you are in the story at all times.”
Aside from the amazing soundtrack, at its heart Jersey Boys is a story of deep, meaningful friendship. Four young men form an alliance with only a handshake as the underlying contract. They face dizzying highs and incredible lows, but through it all they find that they are there for one another in a solidarity that spans over 50 years.
Neese says the story encourages the audience to think of their own friendships: “We're talking about over $100 million of revenue that came through their partnership, always on a handshake deal. So this show should challenge people as to what level of trust and risk should you have in your friendships. Are my friends really friends? Are they just people who happen to coexist near me?”
Jersey Boys has a rich history of accolades since its Broadway debut in 2005. The show won four Tony Awards in 2006, including Best Musical. Whether you're a longtime Four Seasons fan or discovering their music for the first time, Jersey Boys promises a night of energetic entertainment to keep you on the edge of your seat and leave you humming along to classic tunes.
Jersey Boys will play in the Cabaret Theatre September 12-29.
A challenging, thought-provoking original play
Threads, an original play by Clayton Smith based on a concept by Jacob D’Armand, is coming to the Studio Theatre, demonstrating that community theatres are where some of the most authentic and stirring stories are told.
Threads is an origin story, as well as an exploration of what it means to be human. Set in seven 'movements,' the play pulls from concepts of religion, mythology, the study of chakras, healing, and relationships. Smith says, “This is the story that everybody throughout history has always been trying to tell. Where did we come from? What does it all mean? This one isn’t quite so literal an interpretation. It’s broad in scope, and draws from many different ways of answering those questions.”
While this presentation is new, the play developed in front of theatrical patrons. First introduced at the Pure Imagination Festival in 2023, then at the New Works Festival at SPCA, the Endeavor Theatre Company is excited to perform the show in a way it had long envisioned, as an immersive experience, with projections, music and audience surrounding the performance. It will play fully in the round, allowing the audience a 360-degree view. Smith continues: “We’re going to be making use of all the technology the venue has to offer, which is awesome … there are so many visual storytelling parts of this, too, that it will be a rich experience for anybody who comes to see it.”
Such a unique play is difficult to describe to a new audience. D’Armand says we should “expect to have a good time and come away from it feeling like it’s a good thing to be a person in the world.”
In what could be a very exciting nod to Prescott’s rich theatre community, Threads may soon be reaching wider audiences. Smith and D’Armand say the script is available for license through public and dedicated channels, and they hope to have an original-cast audio recording available in the near future.
It’s no surprise that the creators are big dreamers. As D’Armand says, “Hopefully we'll see this performed across the country and in different venues, with different perspectives and different visions of what it should look like. I don't know, I kind of want to get it in front of somebody at Cirque du Soleil.”
In our often fragmented and disconnected world, Threads offers a moment to pause, reflect, and remember that we are all part of something larger, a tapestry of life that’s richer for the threads that bind us together. The cast of twelve, some of whom have been involved since its inception, hope to share a message of hope. As Smith says, “There’s a lot of hope attached to it. There’s a lot of healing and self discovery …, self-actualization, and I wish that there was a more buzzy word to call that, but that really is the point that I think the piece tries to make, that for all the trials, for all the levels that we all have to go through in our varying degrees, at the end of it exists real meaning, and real hope.”
Threads will play in the Studio Theatre September 12–22.
For more information and tickets, visit prescottartcenter.org.
