From the gritty depths of show-biz dreams comes B&B's 'Jersey Boys'

Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons: "Walk Like a Man"

Though a deeply shadowed triumph takes hold in "Jersey Boys," the staged musical story of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons also delves into the complications of career-building in popular culture amid interpersonal tensions and personality flaws.

The Tony Award-winning show opened on Valentine's Day at Beef & Boards Dinner Theatre, where it will run through April 13. As seen Sunday night, "Jersey Boys" retains its dazzle in a production directed and choreographed by Candi Boyd, who played the role of femme fatale Mary Delgado in the Broadway show.

Thus, there is an apparent "laying on of hands" to inspire B&B's show, and it's brightly

Frankie: Gian Raffaele DiCostanzo

displayed in the pace and detailed presentation of this pioneering "jukebox" musical. In the cast, the key to success in "Jersey Boys" is to have a smoothly produced, sometimes pleading, sometimes declarative crooner rising to a falsetto comfort zone  as Frankie Valli. That role is safely entrusted here to Gian Raffaele DiCostanzo.

Brought forward out of shyness and uncertainty from a working-class urban environment, Valli was urged to change his longer Italian surname by the aforementioned Delgado and then joined the first version of the group later known as the Four Seasons. The intricate maneuvers of this vocal group toward chart-topping success in the early Sixties are covered fully in a head-spinning Wikipedia article. 

The two-act show can only sketch this history, which the book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice does shrewdly and with great dramatic momentum. It struck me that the momentum slows significantly in the second act, with the narrative climaxed by the ensemble's induction in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The happy-ending formula is heavily dependent on burnishing Valli's legacy credentials, with the shadow of his daughter's early death ensuing from the star singer's fragmented family life. 

But nailing the group's late hits ("Working My Way Back to You" and "Rag Doll") ensures an upbeat climax to the brilliant layout of the saga, with the group's place in the limelight threatened by touring fatigue, family divisions, and unpaid gambling debts. 

Rehearsal: Bob Gaudio introduces a new song to the boys

Logan Moore is a towering presence as Nick Massi, the group's bass voice and a man disturbed by the borderline chaos of the touring life. Nikita Burshsteyn makes a youthful contrast with his songwriting ambition burning steadily, yet vexed by his own self-doubt as a perrformer. Kyle Southern held the attention steadily as Tommy DeVito, who credits himself with the group's creation, yet yields almost fatally to a gambling addiction.

The distinctiveness of each man shines through, while the group identity remains a sturdy shield for the spiffy song renderings, supported by a lively six-piece band under the direction of  Kristy Templet. The versatile creativity of the design team supports the glitz that pop-culture success requires. The atmosphere of spectacle is sustained throughout the production as counterpoint to the down-to-earth human story that "Jersey Boys" presents and proves upon our pulses.

Character roles representing figures in and around the group's progress are well taken by (among others) Jeff Stockberger and Joey Boos. B&B institution Stockberger is the local capo Gyp DeCarlo and in this performance made his mark without any need to draw upon his patented zaniness.  Boos plays manipulative producer Bob Crewe, flamboyantly gay and well-established at the iconic Brill Building. His nose for hits undergirded the Four Seasons' identity with his song lyrics. 

"Oh, What a Night!" as the song says.