After Preview Party

What? Another Oh What A … from me?

So, what happens if you host a party and the featured guests never make it? It could happen. It did happen! Most hosts would break down and cry. Not so in the case of Charles Alexander, whose featured guests, Frankie Valli, Bob Gaudio and Tommy DeVito never made it to his party. Well sort of. You see, they never made it to the area set aside to contain the party. Instead, as soon as the three Seasons were noticed, a mass of humanity prevented further travel in the direction of the party site. Mr. Valli never made it past midway, Messrs. Gaudio and DeVito made it to the outskirts of party central. They must have been wondering where all the food was that they had heard about. Was there any disappointment on the part of Mr. Alexander? Hardly, since his dream had come true: to host a party after the last Jersey Boys preview and have the subjects of the play make an appearance. Not only did the Seasons show up, they stayed for an extended period and made themselves available to anyone who asked for photos and autographs. Was Charles’ party a success? That’s a stupid question. Without a doubt it was over the top, not to be forgotten soon by those fortunate enough to have accepted Charles’ open invitation. In addition to the Seasons, also attending were the four central cast members, J. Robert Spencer, Daniel Reichard, Christian Hoff and John Loyd Young. Also gracing Charles’s party were writers Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice. Steve Orich, who handled Orchestrations for the play showed up, as well as producers Ralph Bryan, and Kevin and Tamara Kinsella. In addition, in an adjoining area, cast member Peter Gregus was holding a party of his own.

Let’s back up a few hours, OK about 6 hours to 4:30 PM. Crescenzo Capece had arranged for a private room at Manganaro’s, an Italian restaurant on 9th Ave. There, a good number of Four Seasons fans held a get together and ate dinner. This was an excellent start to an evening that was to become more excellent as the hours wore on. After dinner there was ample time for social mingling among the many who had been in contact through the message groups but had never met face to face.

About 7:30 PM, time to make tracks for the August Wilson Theatre and the 8:00 PM performance of Jersey Boys. I know that anything I say of a positive nature about this night’s performance will be viewed as biased. Too bad, this is my story. I was seeing my 6th performance and I thought this had the best audience reception of all. I’m certainly not a Broadway critic. I don’t know what critics focus on in determining the content of their subsequent reviews. I know my criteria. I pay my money, if I come away entertained then it was a success. This play is a rousing success.

10:45 PM, after the play the party guests ascended to the Café Nicole in the Novotel Hotel, just across the street from the theatre. Plenty of food; no one should go hungry. The bar is well stocked; no one will go thirsty. One by one people associated with the play appear, and they are greeted by Charles. Then Valli, Gaudio, and DeVito make their entrance and all control is lost as fans have their fondest wishes come true, taking pictures with, and obtaining autographs of, their idols. Each guest received a complimentary CD as a memento of the evening, and as planned, was a complete surprise to Charles. Forgotten in all of the excitement was the enormous spread of food laid out. Also gone by the wayside was a “luck of the draw” giveaway of about 50 Valli/Seasons memorabilia items. Only a few who pulled tickets earlier in the evening were able to take advantage.

It’s now 12:30 AM. Almost everyone is gone as we’re looking over the expanse of untouched food. I’m leaving to take advantage of a ride offer from Crescenzo. I bid farewell to Charles and offer my thanks for a great evening and my wishes for his safe trip home. After such a glorious evening what else is there to look forward to? Hmm… tomorrow is Opening Night, I wonder...

Frank Rovello – November 5, 2005

** Thanks to George Juba and Paul Stewart for providing many of the accompanying images **