With the Tony Award-winning musical Jersey Boys, the story of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, still a hot ticket on Broadway and in road shows, the choice of the Frankie Valli tribute group Let's Hang On seems a timely one for the Pasco-Hernando Community College Performing Arts Center.
Even so, the show coming to PHCC on Feb. 7 features much more than Four Seasons songs, said drummer Bob Schubert, who co-produced the show with guitarist Bill Norman.
"This is a Broadway-style production," with choreography by dancer Heather Krueger, who also sings with the 10-member group. Besides the Four Seasons' songs, "It brings back the sounds of that period, that generation."
The group's stage show often includes Frankie Valli favorites such as Sherry, Big Girls Don't Cry, Dec. '63 (Oh What A Night) and Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You. And Rich Bresenham of Orlando does the falsetto that is Valli's hallmark.
"But we do songs of that era by a lot of people," such as Nancy Sinatra's These Boots Were Made for Walking, Martha and the Vandellas' Dancing in the Street and Mary Wells' My Guy, Schubert said.
Schubert and Norman put the group together about three months ago with the help of William Clare Entertainment, a Tampa Bay booking agency. Most of the members of Let's Hang On are longtime veterans of the Florida theme park and regional theater scene, Schubert said.
They've been on the road almost constantly since they formed, playing from Palm Beach to Naples to Tampa, Schubert said.
Interestingly, Valli and the Four Seasons themselves are performing at Ruth Eckerd Hall on the same night as the Let's Hang On performance at PHCC, albeit with prices double and triple those of the local show.
"We had booked our show long before we knew Frankie Valli was coming to Ruth Eckerd Hall," said Arla Altman, executive director of the PHCC Foundation, sponsors of the performing arts season.
Schubert is quick to point out that his show is nothing like that of the British group of the same name that is on YouTube.
"That's a band," Schubert said. "Ours is a show."
if you go
Let's Hang On, a tribute to Frankie Valli
What: Let's Hang On
Where: Pasco-Hernando Community College Performing Arts Center 10230 Ridge Road, New Port Richey
When: 8 p.m. Feb. 7
Tickets: $23-$30. Call (727) 816-3707, visit the PHCC bookstore on the New Port Richey campus or buy online at phcc.tix.com.
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