Who needs Broadway?

Chicago is a competitive city. It seems especially concerned with proving itself equal to New York. Take, for example, its theater offerings, “Broadway in Chicago.” How much more blatant can it get?

Personally, I prefer Chicago’s theater district. Less glitzy, it makes do without the blinding neon lights of New York’s Broadway (despite what the website photo makes it look like). The stretch of theaters, in the area just south of the River, is less swarming with tourists than its counterpart in the Big Apple, making it easier to pop in, see a show, and get back out.

I was invited to see Jersey Boys, which tells the story of the Four Seasons, and their rise to fame from the wrong side of the tracks in Jersey. Of course, this show was made for New York, though I suppose the “Guido” character has become so universally recognizable that even Midwesterners can appreciate it. Behind the music, this aspect of the play was definitely the most entertaining.

The songs were wonderful; classic tunes that I knew the words to without knowing where I’d learned them. I recognized almost every one, even though I would have never been able to name the Four Seasons as the artists. Each one catchier than the last, it was impossible not to dance in my seat and mouth the lyrics (ok, I probably did more than mouth them-- sorry to the strangers sitting behind me).

And though we were undecided on whether or not the actors were singing (the optimist among us wondering why “Frankie Valli” didn’t pursue a career in music, and the most doubtful astutely catching the moments when his lip synching slipped up) either way, the production was charming and fun—in my opinion, two essential qualities of a successful musical.