QUARANTINE BLOG # 401

May 5, 2021

The blog is late today because I was called in as a literary consultant to help with a special project.  So, first of all, the family birthdays for the month of May continue (just getting a good start, actually).  Happy Birthday Rachel Marie!

👉   The house lights are going down.  The usher is taking you to your seat.  The overture is beginning. 

Settle in and enjoy Jersey Boys.

Jersey Boys is a 2005 jukebox musical, presented in a documentary-style format that dramatizes the formation, success and eventual break-up of the 1960s rock ‘n’ roll group “The Four Seasons.”  The musical is structured as four “seasons,” each narrated by a different member of the band who gives his own perspective on its history and music.  Songs include “Big Girls Don’t Cry,” “Sherry,” “December 1963 (Oh, What A Night),” “My Eyes Adored You,” “Stay,” “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You,”, “Walk Like A Man,” “Who Loves You,” “Working My Way Back to You,” and “Rag Doll,” among others.

The musical ran on Broadway from 2005 to 2017, and since its debut it has been on two North American national tours and two national tours of The UK and Ireland.  There have been productions of the show in London’s West End, Las Vegas, Chicago, Toronto, Melbourne and other Australian cities, Singapore, South Africa, The Netherlands, Japan, Dubai, and China. Jersey Boys won four 2006 Tony Awards including Best Musical, and the 2009 Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Musical.

Jersey Boys premiered on the Norwegian Cruise Liner, Norwegian Bliss, in 2018.  In October 2020, it was announced that Jersey Boys will return to the West End at the Trafalgar Theatre in April 2021.  Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom the production has been postponed with previews beginning July 28 and opening night set for August 10, 2021.

In the early 2000s, Bob Gaudio, an original “Four Seasons” member, began to make a musical from the discography of the band.  Among his hires was Marshall Brickman, screenwriter and director, best known for his collaborations with Woody Allen.  Brickman suggested creating a show about the band’s history, instead of repurposing their songs for an independent story the way “ABBA” did with Mamma Mia!   Brickman was drawn to the project because: “It’s a classic American story.  It’s rags to riches, and back to rags.” 

Little was known to the public about the group’s history prior to the premiere of the musical, but research uncovered that the members had prison records, which might have prevented their music from being played if it had been publicized when they were active.  According to Gaudio, “Back then, things were a little clean-cut, don’t forget.”  Other bands of the time projected street-tough images, but “The Four Seasons” cleaned themselves up for mainstream listeners.

Act 1, Scene 1, Spring.  The group forms, first as a trio, then with Frankie Castelluccio joining the band and changing his name to Frankie Valli.  “Earth Angel” is a song first recorded by The Penguins in 1954, and covered by The Four Seasons.  The song is the Penguins’ only hit.  It eventually sold in excess of ten million copies.  The original recording is considered to be one of the definitive doo-wop songs.

Act 1, Scene 2, Summer.  Beginning as “The Varsity Trio,” the group adds Bob Gaudio and changes their name to The Four Seasons.  “Sherry,” according to Gaudio, took about 15 minutes to write and was originally titled “Jackie Baby” (in honor of then-First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy).  

Act 2, Scene 1, Fall.  The group gets in trouble because of Tommy DeVito’s debts, and a forgotten bill during a previous tour lands the band in jail for a weekend.  “Let's Hang On” was the last Four Seasons hit to feature bass singer/bassist Nick Massi who left the group in 1965.  The song was revived in 1981 as a cover by Barry Manilow.

Act 2, Scene 2, Winter.  The group becomes known as “Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons,” releasing “Can't Take My Eyes Off You.”  The song was almost not released until Ontario radio station CKLW heard a demo and put it on their play list.  It has been covered by Andy Williams, Maureen McGovern, Engelbert Humperdink and others, but it was the original that NASA used as a wake-up song on the STS-126 Space Shuttle mission, to celebrate the wedding anniversary of astronaut Christopher Ferguson, one of the mission's crew members.

👉  Heaven as seen through the eyes of Non-Sequitor:

👉  And a couple of panels for chuckles (or groans):

👉  Our close today is the story behind a beautiful old hymn, “Fairest Lord Jesus.”

One of the oldest  and most beautiful hymns of the Christian faith is “Fairest Lord Jesus”, also sometimes known as “Beautiful Savior.”  It has been sung by worshipers for centuries and yet very little is known of its origin or history.  The text is now considered by some to be an anonymous seventeenth century German folk hymn which first appeared in a manuscript dated 1662.  

While we don’t know who actually wrote the song or when it was written, many different opinions exist.  But, no matter, it remains a classic hymn of worship and praise of the Lord Jesus Christ.  The hymn is an acknowledgment that Jesus is more precious, more beautiful, more glorious than anything else in the world. It is an ascription of primacy to Jesus Christ above everything in terms of value. 

It is not unlike the text from Philippians 3:1-11, in which the Apostle Paul says that he counts everything else rubbish in comparison to the greatness of knowing the Lord Jesus Christ and the power of His resurrection.  This devotional hymn is all focused on the glory of Jesus Christ.  There is also an acknowledgment that He is the ruler of all nations, so it’s an acknowledgment of His sovereign rule over the world, and that He is the Son of God and Son of man.  

It also expresses the love of the hymn singer to Christ, “Thee will I cherish, Thee will I honor, Thou my soul’s glory, joy, and crown.”  It is  all about desiring Christ in all His glory, and valuing Christ more than anything else in the world.  Whenever we sing this song we should reflect on the virtues of our Savior Jesus Christ.  He is worthy of our praise.  As God, He is worthy of our worship.  Therefore, may we ever be willing to confess Him before men as our “Fairest Lord Jesus.”

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