ongoing – Sun. March 3

     Sometimes, it’s really good to be really wrong. Today’s case: “Jersey Boys,” which is at the newly reopened Colonial Theatre through March 3. What I was wrong about was passing on seeing the show the first couple of swings through Boston. It won a Tony and Grammy -winning musical in 2006? OK, but … meh. What stopped me – and maybe it’s stopped you – were the specifics of the central subject: Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, the rise and fall and then the life-shifting of the principle characters. And really what stopped me was the music, or more to the point, the era from which the music came, the early ‘60s. I was a kid when the Beatles and the rest of the British Invasion hit our shores = the “She Loves Me” 45 was my first purchase – and this is what rock ‘n’ roll meant to be. Whenever I encountered doo-wop – or Valli’s doo-wop/pop/R&B mélange -  I simply thought: This is music from before my consciousness and it sounds incredibly dated and naïve to me. There was Valli’s falsetto, not my favorite male vocal style. The music was sweet, yes. But it didn’t speak to me – it spoke to an older generation – and I grew alongside the early Brit pop stuff and then the world of psychedelia, garage rock, Motown and on. At the 1990 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Awards show In New York, I saw Bruce Springsteen bring up Dion and Valli to join him on “Goodnight Sweetheart.” Yeah, OK, another blast from the past …

    All this leading up to the realization, upon seeing the opening show, that “Jersey Boys” is a monster musical, an electric, detailed conflicted look at what made these guys gel and what tore them apart.  No, the 13 million-plus people who have seen this show throughout the world are not wrong. Kudos to the guys who wrote the book, Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice. And it’s a great showcase for music that really has reach, range and power. Its pacing is fast – the shuffle on songs and narrative is precise, well-timed, weighted perfectly. The story is not just an excuse to set up the songs, not as they say a “jukebox musical.” It’s a great tale, with points both broad and nuanced. I like, for example, that one of the problems they all encounter is life on the road – the fantasy world (for good or bad) that envelopes a star and distances him from his family. And the very human nature of it all – a rags to riches to … something else story that ranges from heart-warming to brutal and sad. There is redemptive power in the music, of course. "Sherry," "Big Girls Don't Cry," "Walk Like a Man" etc. The music, written by Gaudio (the last guy to be brought in to the group and the one who really gave them life), has a transcendent quality. We all know music can do that – it can take us out of the mundane and into a rarefied realm - but when you know what goes into the sausage-making that is the music, well, that makes it all a little more human.

      It doesn’t hurt that Valli (who in real life is now 78) is played terrifically by Nick Cosgrove, and the same goes for other guys. I’m talking acting and singing. Also: While Valli is the main character, the story is, at various points, told from all four singers viewpoints, Bob Gaudio (Miles Jacoby, a local guy), Tommy DeVito (John Gardiner) and Nick Massi (Michael Lomanda) and our feelings about them shift over the course of the play. Tommy starts out as a thug (even roping the young Frankie into a scheme) and he retains his rough edges, even as part of this sweet-sounding group. And it is his excessive gambling that essentially brings the group to its knees at the height of its fame.

    At the end of this, there is a real feeling of wonderment, of being part of this bittersweet tale. There’s a lovely coda, where each of the Four Seasons explains what he’s up to now – Tommy’s life involves working with his former boyhood young punk pal Joe Pesci. Nick is dead, but his character speaks about his leaving the group when he did and why. Gaudio talks about his other behind-the-scenes musical work, where he’s much more comfortable. Valli, he’s still the road warrior. Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons did not end when Tommy was booted, Nick retired and Gaudio stepped off the stage. And “Jersey Boys” does a marvelous job of making both their story and their music resonate into the 21^st century.

Shows Tuesday-Thursday 7:30, Friday-Saturday at 8, Saturday matinees at 2 and Sundays 1 and 6:30. Tix: $204-$34.

106 Boylston, 866-348-9738 www.BroadwayinBoston.com