Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons
Bring Their Hits to Mountain Laurel Center
on Saturday, June 30 at 8 p.m.
Group is Riding a New Wave of Popularity Due to
Smash-Hit Broadway Show Jersey Boys
BUSHKILL, PA -- A true American pop music icon, Frankie Valli, with his group The Four Seasons, has produced 19 top ten hits and sold more than 100 million records world wide. Valli & The Four Seasons perform at Mountain Laurel Center for the Performing Arts on Saturday, June 30 at 8 p.m. Tickets range from $22 to $52, and are on sale now via Ticketmaster at 570.693.4100, through Ticketmaster outlets, online at mountainlaurelcenter.com, or by visiting MLCPA’s on-site box office.
“Mountain Laurel Center is proud to bring the enduring musical legacy of Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons to our stage for all to enjoy,” said Richard T. Bryant, President & CEO of Mountain Laurel Center. “Pop music at its best, Frankie Valli is a perfect way to launch the pop and rock performances of our 2007 Summer Season, broadening the artistic scope of programming at the Center.”
Possessing one of the most distinctive voices in all of rock ‘n’ roll, Valli continues to dazzle. Inspired by fellow New Jersey native Frank Sinatra and such jazz influences as the Hi-Lo’s and the Four Freshmen, Valli as a youngster always knew he wanted to perform. “We used to sing around the Newark area where I grew up,” he recalls. “I’d always wanted to be a singer, ever since my mother took me to see Sinatra at the Paramount Theatre in New York as a kid. I decided then and there that’s what I was going to do – be a successful singer.”
In 1962 Bob Gaudio, singer/songwriter for The Four Seasons, wrote a song called "Sherry." It was written in about 15 minutes. Sherry was released in the summer and moved slowly until the group performed on "American Bandstand.” "Sherry" sold 200,000 copies the next day catapulting Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons into rock ‘n’ roll superstardom. Gaudio wrote or co-wrote and produced almost the entire Four Seasons catalogue with heavy involvement by Bob Crewe.
With “Sherry,” The Four Seasons had crystallized a distinctive musical style: the popular doo-wop music of the 1950s inflected with the rhythm-and-blues influences that would come to define much of the music of the 1960s. With Valli’s dazzling falsetto as its trademark, The Four Seasons’ sound would become one of the most enduring in all of rock ‘n’ roll. The Four Seasons followed “Sherry” with such unforgettable original songs as “Big Girls Don't Cry,” “Walk Like a Man,” “Candy Girl,” “Rag Doll,” and “Let’s Hang On.”
In 1974 Frankie Valli – this time as a soloist – was back on top of the charts, going platinum with the bittersweet ballad “My Eyes Adored You.” “Swearin’ to God,” with its disco beat and contemporary sensibilities, went gold, climbing to #6 on the charts in 1975. That same year, his song “Our Day Will Come” reached #11. In 1976, “December 1963 (Oh, What a Night)” climbed to #1 and stayed at the top for three weeks. Valli scored another mega-hit in 1978 with the title track of the best-selling Grease movie soundtrack.
Today pop industry icons Valli & The Four Seasons (with whom he continued to perform even after breaking out as a solo act) are riding the crest of a whole new wave of popularity, due to the smash-hit Broadway musical Jersey Boys: The Story of Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons. Winner of the 2006 Tony Award for Best Musical, Jersey Boys follows the rags-to-riches tale of the blue-collar kids from the wrong side of the tracks who became American superstars. Valli & The Four Seasons’ performance at Mountain Laurel Center is a chance to see and hear the real thing – still going strong, still singing their legendary hits, still winning fans the world over.
MOUNTAIN LAUREL CENTER 2007 PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE
All events will be presented in the Tom Ridge Pavilion.
SATURDAY, JUNE 30, 8 p.m.
FRANKIE VALLI & THE FOUR SEASONS
Inside reserved seating: $32-$52. Lawn seating: $22.
SATURDAY, JULY 7, 8 p.m.
STEVE MILLER BAND
Inside reserved seating: $45-$65. Lawn seating: $25.
WEDNESDAY, JULY 18, 7:30 p.m.
THE GOO GOO DOLLS
Plus special guests LIFEHOUSE
Inside reserved seating: $37-$47. Lawn seating: $22.
TUESDAY, JULY 24, 7:30 p.m.
LUCINDA WILLIAMS
Inside reserved seating: $25-$45. Lawn seating: $20
SATURDAY, AUGUST 4, 8 p.m.
LINDA RONSTADT
Inside reserved seating: $32-$52. Lawn seating: $22.
SATURDAY, AUGUST 11, 11 a.m.
THE LAURIE BERKNER BAND with Susie Lampert & Adam Bernstein
Inside reserved seating: $25-$35.
SATURDAY, AUGUST 18, 7:30 p.m.
THE ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND
BOB WEIR AND RATDOG
Inside reserved seating: $45-$65. Lawn seating: $25.
MONDAY, AUGUST 20, 8 p.m.
BOSTON POPS ESPLANADE ORCHESTRA
Keith Lockhart, Conductor
Inside reserved seating: $45-$65. Lawn seating: $25.
SATURDAY, AUGUST 25, 8 p.m.
Neil Berg’s 100 YEARS OF BROADWAY
Inside reserved seating: $25-$45. Lawn seating: $20.
Mountain Laurel Center for the Performing Arts is a nonprofit performing arts center serving the Pocono Mountains and beyond. Its principal venue, the Tom Ridge Pavilion, offers 2,500 covered seats and room under the stars for thousands more on its comfortable lawn. MLCPA is dedicated to serving the region by providing world-class artists and entertainers through an ongoing series of performances and educational programming. For additional information about the Mountain Laurel Center, please call 570-426-2080 or visit mountainlaurelcenter.com.
For ticket prices, ordering, Harry’s Club membership and general information, the public can visit www.mountainlaurelcenter.com or call 570.426.2080.
###
Contact:
CJ McKenna
Development Manager
Direct: 570.426.2080 x5007
Email: cmckenna@mlcpa.org
Mountain Laurel Center for the Performing Arts
Bushkill Falls Road P.O. Box 1233
Bushkill, PA 18324
Administration: 570.426.2080
Fax: 570.588.5211
mountainlaurelcenter.com
