The best of Broadway, on and off

Jersey Boys COURTESY PHOTO NEW YORK— If you want to see the best theater, Broadway’s the place to be.

During a short trip to New York City, I took in as many shows as possible: four on Broadway and an excursion off-Broadway to see two more. (Unfortunately, one of the off-Broadway shows, “A Lifetime Burning,” has since closed.)

Two of the musicals I saw are coming to Southwest Florida this season: “Jersey Boys” will play at the Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall in Fort Myers Feb. 17-March 7, and “In the Heights” will be at the Philharmonic Center for the Arts in Naples from March 29-April 3.

If you’re going to New York City for Thanksgiving or the holidays, here’s what you should catch.

“Jersey Boys” August Wilson Theatre

Believe all the hype about “Jersey Boys.”

In this instance, it’s all true.

“Jersey Boys” is a knockout, entertaining musical that grabs you from the start and never lets go.

I always grow a little leery when people start using superlatives about a show. I think it creates unrealistic expectations, and what show can live up to that?

But this one does.

It begins with high energy and somehow manages to keep up the intensity throughout. Whereas too many musicals are cheap imitations, “Jersey Boys” is shiny and bright, like a sustained trumpet blast.

The Jersey boys of the title are Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. Their songs — “Sherry,” “Walk Like a Man” and “Big Girls Don’t Cry” among them — have long been well known, but general knowledge about the men behind the hits was lacking.

“Jersey Boys” is their story.

Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice cleverly structured the musical so that sequentially each singer narrates the tale of how they found each other, found their sound, found success, and then floundered.

They also wrote the show so that all the music — by Bob Gaudio and Bob Crewe — is performed in natural settings, such as nightclubs, recording studios and stages.

About the boys

Some of these guys were from the wrong side of the tracks, and did time for their crimes.

But when they got together and sang, the sounds were sweet and romantic.

You know they’re going to find each other and form a group. Yet, when they do, and when they sing together for the first time, it’s a definite goosebump moment. With Mr. Valli’s falsetto leading the way, they discover their trademark sound.

The Broadway cast stars Jarrod Spector as Mr.Valli, Sebastian Arcelus as Mr. Gaudio, Matt Bogart as Nick Massi and Dominic Nolfi as Tommy DeVito. Peter Gregus portrays Mr. Crewe, the recording producer who wrote the group’s lyrics.

“Jersey Boys” includes more than a dozen of The Four Seasons’ hits, including “My Eyes Adored You,” “Dawn (Go Away),” “Let’s Hang On (To What We’ve Got),” “Bye Bye Baby,” “C’mon Marianne,” “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” and “Who Loves You.”

Showing both the glitter and the pain of show biz, it’s the real deal.

“In the Heights” Richard Rodgers Theatre

“In the Heights” is the next evolution of musical theater.

In some ways, it’s as classical as traditional theater, telling the story of a group of people who’ve come to the United States and want to better themselves. It’s about people pursuing the age-old American dream, to work your way up from where you were to where you want to be.

In other ways, however, it’s like no other musical on Broadway, incorporating hip-hop, salsa and merengue in the score — a score that won composer and lyricist Lin-Manuel Miranda a Tony Award. (“In the Heights” also received Tonys for Best Musical, Best Choreography and Best Orchestrations.)

It’s modern, it’s gritty.

It’s about life in the Heights — Washington Heights, a northern Manhattan neighborhood populated predominantly by people from the Dominican Republic.

Who’s who in the Heights

This is an ensemble piece, featuring Usnavi (Javier Munoz), a bodega owner who’s in love with Vanessa (Marcy Harriell), who wants to move out of the barrio and live downtown. Meanwhile, Nina (Mandy Gonzalez), the first in her family to go off to college, winds up dropping out because she has to work two jobs to pay for school and can’t keep her grades up. She’s just lost her scholarship and doesn’t know how to tell her family. Olga Merediz, as Abuela Claudia, mothers everyone in the neighborhood and stops the show with her solo, “Paciencia y Fe (Patience and Faith).”

A number of plots all weave together over three days’ time in the neighborhood.

The set alone is spectacular: a realistic street scene with apartments and stores (a nail salon, bodega and car-service business), with the George Washington Bridge towering regally in the background. (People were actually taking photos of the set before the show began.)

The music is a burst of energy: fresh, humorous, vital. And the dancing practically explodes off the stage.

“In the Heights” has just begun a national tour; that’s what’s coming to the Phil in March. A movie adaptation is being filmed and should be released in 2010.

“Alfred Hitchcock’s The 39 Steps” The Helen Hayes Theatre

You don’t have to see Alfred Hitchcock’s 1935 film of the same name in order to enjoy this show, but if you do, it will help you wring every last drop of humor out of an amazingly inventive production.

It’s as if someone led four actors onto an almost-bare stage with a minimal amount of props and said, “Here, reenact that Hitchcock movie, ‘The 39 Steps.’” And so they do, with great zeal and a delicious blend of both high and low humor.

It appears slapdash and improvised, but in reality, it’s very carefully choreographed.

The cast of Arnie Burton, Jeffrey Kuhn, Sean Mahon and Jill Paice portray all of the characters in the movie, switching from one to another in less than a second’s time.

The plot revolves around Richard Hannay (Sean Mahon), who’s falsely accused of killing a counterespionage spy (who manages to say “the 39 steps” before dying.) He goes on the run, while also trying to prevent a spy ring from taking important secrets out of the country.

A great adventure

The destination in “The 39 Steps” isn’t as important as the journey, which is incredibly fun.

The New York Times called the play “absurdly enjoyable,” and it is. It’s also sheer genius, incorporating all sorts of humor: physical, visual, slapstick, verbal. This quartet of actors does it all, with perfect pitch.

The play also pays tribute to other Hitchcock movies, including “The Birds,” “Psycho,” “Vertigo” and “North by Northwest.” There’s even a Hitchcock cameo. Based on an original concept by Simon Corble and Nobby Dimon, and adapted by Patrick Barlow, it’s directed by Maria Aitken, who doesn’t let the pace lag one bit.

At the beginning of the show, Mr. Hannay, sitting in an easy chair, declares his desire for “something mindless and trivial. Something utterly pointless.” Then he perks up. “I know!” he says. “I’ll go to the theater!”

“The 39 Steps” might give the appearance of possibly being “mindless and trivial,” but it’s quite astute.

Not only will it make you laugh, it will reacquaint you with the magic of theater — the creativity and the sense of “let’s pretend.”

The show is slated to close Jan. 10, but there’s talk of staging it off-Broadway again.

“Fuerza Bruta: Look Up” Daryl Roth Theatre

“Fuerza Bruta: Look Up” isn’t a musical, although it includes music. It’s not a drama, although it’s quite theatrical.

It’s an explosion of music, lights, dance — a happening, if you will. Part rave, part dance performance. It’s everything.

The show is set in a dark, cavernous space, and attendees stand throughout the 50-minute performance, from time to time guided by staffers to step forward or move back to make room for the actors.

We’re given a series of vignettes, all set to Gaby Kerpel’s electronica/hiphop/ World music, that don’t tell a story but appear more as impressions, or short stories in motion. There’s a man in a white suite on a giant, raised treadmill. First walking and then running, he has to dodge obstacles and people who suddenly appear before him. He runs through walls. He’s shot. He walks up a row of stairs and opens the door, standing on the precipice.

Then a man and a woman, suspended in the air by bungee cords, run and jump on what appear to be opposite sides of a moon.

Then a group of people performs a stomping, frenzied dance in a house and wind up destroying it, gleefully tossing the pieces about.

Created and directed by Argentinean Diqui James, “Fuerza Bruta” (which means “Brute Force”) is like nothing else I’ve experienced in theater. I found it mysterious, hypnotic, intriguing.

I suspect it’s not meant to be analyzed as much as it’s meant to be simply experienced and enjoyed.

Ending with a splash

A clear ceiling reveals four women gliding about in water, like 21st century Esther Williamses. Lights flash in the darkness. Thumping music throbs. Then the ceiling lowers, and you’re face to face with these modern mermaids. You can lift your hands and touch them through the plastic.

The whole thing ends like a giant rave, the space turned into a giant dance floor for everyone there.

At $70, it’s a little steep for only 50 minutes of performance. And I found myself wishing at times that they’d pushed a little further, done a little more with each scene.

But still, it’s a mind-blowing experience. And something like this will certainly never come to Southwest Florida. 