I traveled with mixed emotions into New York City with dear friends and my wife Maria to experience Jersey Boys.
Whether you're from Belleville, New Jersey or San Diego, by now you know it's the Broadway production of the story of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons.
Why the mixed emotions? I knew I would be seeing scenes from my book, Bad News on the Doorstep, right before my eyes, and the feeling of "Gee, we don't have the full story of Bad News... out across the country yet!"
On the other hand, my attorney Frank Zinna, the Judge in Belleville by the way, simply assures me, "All things on their own time, Joey." Of course, he and my agent Mike Finley are correct, and The Big Canary even says, "Hey, your story is a special one, and Frankie and the boys are in it. God will pick the time and place. Enjoy the notoriety of you 'neighborhood' around the country. It can't hurt."
And did we enjoy it! The first words out of the actor playing Tommy DeVito nailed the character (we see the real Tommy around Bloomfield Avenue, Belleville, and Nutley from time to time), when he opened up with, " This thing started about a thousand years ago in Belleville, New Jersey."
With that statement the whole theatre erupted into an uproar!! You would think the hundreds in attendance were all from my hometown. Even the New York crowd has a special place in its heart for blue collar towns that burst with pride when a few of their kind make it big ... real big!
And as my readers know, that's part of what my book is about.
Bob Gaudio, Frankie Valli, Bob Crewe (from my grammar school, PS. Number 10) and the writers and director have hit a homerun, and all of us back in Jersey could not be happier.
As far as me and the faithful reading supporters of Bad News on the Doorstep are concerned, we all know that my Lenny Latore and the Four Loves in the book are really Frankie and his pals. I went the fiction route with the literary license as many of you know, recognizing that Mr. Valli and his crew would require much research if I were to have written the actual story of their presence in Bad News..
But in the end, unless you are from Mars, when you read about Lenny and his friends at the clubs, on the road, with the "good fellas", but still staying faithful to the good people in their lives in the neighborhood, there is no question the Loves are the Seasons!
Go see Jersey Boys! Maybe you'll laugh and cry like Judge Zinna and I did. It's really special when you see people fulfilling God's destiny in their lives. And Frankie Valli, Tommie DeVito, Bob Gaudio, and Nick Massi were supposed to sing; that was their destiny. They did that as The Four Seasons, ... and the rest is history. Thanks for the example, guys, ... and Nicky, rest in peace!
Joe in Jersey, proud of the Jersey Boys.
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