REVIEW: Oh! What a Night with The Sherry Babys
The popularity of Jersey Boys seems to know no bounds, with the first national tour running for nearly two years, the West End production in its eighth year and numerous tribute acts touring the length and breadth of the country. It’s the turn of The Sherry Babys (formerly The Rag Dolls) to deliver the greatest hits of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons as well as some of the most famous songs of the Doo-Wap era in their production Oh! What a Night.
The hits of the Four Seasons are delivered with slick choreography clearly influenced by Sergio Trujillo’s signature choreography for Jersey Boys and some chat in American accents of varying degrees of success. The vocals are universally on-point, the only bug-bear being the changing (forgetting?) of lyrics by the singer with the Frankie Valli falsetto which prompted a bit of interval chat – these songs are now so well known by the audience that they really need to be perfect. The live backing band are competent and add an immediacy and energy to the production that is lacking in some tribute acts who sing to backing tracks, though the levels in the venue were a little over-amped at times. The doo-wop hits are delivered with the same enthusiasm Overtones-style.
The almost universal popularity of this music means that you are always going to be on to a winner. A highly entertaining evenings entertainment, thoroughly enjoyed by the sell-out crowd.