Well-tuned engine

STANDING ovations are a dime a dozen in the theater these days, though not many shows can boast of setting one off midway through the second act. But then “Jersey Boys,” the musical biography of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons that opened at the Ahmanson on Sunday, has a secret weapon that makes it virtually impossible for those wild and crazy baby boomers to stay planted in their seats -- the group’s seemingly endless string of compulsive hits.

What drives the crowd prematurely to its feet is the unveiling of Valli’s monster comeback song, the one the record company executives, who love the easy accessibility of “C’mon Marianne,” are none too sure about -- “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You.” To judge by the reaction of the audience, this velvety classic doesn’t just afford easy-listening pleasure, it encapsulates an era and reactivates the dreams of romantic youth.

There’s no point in arguing with that kind of nostalgic ecstasy. For anyone who has ever danced to the Four Seasons at a prom or wedding, “Jersey Boys” will invoke a giddy delight that doesn’t depend at all on the usual musical-theater ingredients for success.

Let’s face it: With a Top 40 cornucopia like this, a wedding band could get the Ahmanson rocking. So Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice’s book often seems like a protracted VH1 “Behind the Music” special? Not a problem once the swaying is in full effect. And what’s that you say? The lead, Christopher Kale Jones, doesn’t really possess Valli’s one-of-a-kind falsetto or Romeo magnetism? Harder to overlook, but Jones’ strong voice can still rouse the ready, willing and able. And he grows on you like an “American Idol” contestant you want to see shine even though you’re not likely to download any of his music once it’s released.

When “Jersey Boys” opened on Broadway, it was a somewhat subtler experience, thanks to the emotionally naked performance of John Lloyd Young, who won a Tony for capturing not just the inimitable sound of Valli but also his easily bruised Italian American soul. Equally memorable was Christian Hoff, who walked away with the featured actor Tony for his portrayal of Tommy DeVito, the group’s colorful start-up force who has trouble evolving beyond the neighborhood way of doing things even after the Four Seasons become a national force.

Casting the show’s Jersey Boys must be one of the tougher challenges in theater today. It’s hard enough to find four guys who can do a convincing cover of the group’s records, never mind lend depth to roles with a two-dimensional knockoff quality. These are characters that if played straight from the script would seem farfetched even for a Vegas lounge act.

The touring production at the Ahmanson is still the original, slickly entertaining Des McAnuff staging, but the human dimension has receded to the incidental scale one would expect from a soft-rock concert rather than the 2006 Tony winner for best musical. Generally speaking, the actors are content to play the broad outline of their characters and enjoy the automatic fanfare that comes with performing “Sherry” (the song that put the Four Seasons on the map), “Big Girls Don’t Cry,” “Walk Like a Man,” “My Eyes Adored You” and all the other pop chart meteors that have burned their way into our collective music unconscious.

An odd development is that Erich Bergen, who plays Bob Gaudio, the songwriting genius behind the Four Seasons -- and the band member who claims to be more comfortable working behind the scenes -- is the show’s breakout star. His charisma feeds off the spotlight, and with his lanky good looks and vibrant intensity, he tends to eclipse the others in the musical numbers, which are choreographed by Sergio Trujillo to evoke the old ‘60s moves.

Just as the Four Seasons probably wouldn’t have made it out of Belleville, N.J., without the hit-making of Gaudio, this version of the band almost certainly wouldn’t have gotten much farther than Newark without the charm of Bergen, who fills the void left by Jones’ amiable though low-wattage Valli.

Deven May’s Tommy DeVito and Michael Ingersoll’s Nick Massi (the self-confessed Ringo of the group) flirt with “Sopranos”-style stereotypes yet manage to keep things real in a way that completely eludes John Altieri, who plays record producer and lyricist Bob Crewe as though he were auditioning to be a new regular for “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy.”

“Jersey Boys” inventories the group’s ups and downs, from the career-rocketing appearance on “American Bandstand” to the inevitable personnel changes to Valli’s return to the top of the charts and the refreshingly not-so-tearful reunion of the original Four Seasons at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Along the way, debt is racked up, marriages fall apart, and money and fame seem to take the fellows further and further from what they started with -- a sense of knowing where they belong.

The story could be condensed. Rises to stardom always take too long, but this one seems particularly drawn out and populated with stick figures that make Jersey seem like a running joke of bad hair and dumb, gum-cracking accents. On the other hand, loyalty and family are also a part of the picture, and as the tale gains momentum these values are handled with an ironic humor and complexity.

Klara Zieglerova’s industrial set functions as both a series of makeshift stages for the guys to perform on and a reminder that the patch of Garden State that Tommy and Frankie hail from is marked more by crane-filled landfill than verdant landscape. Howell Binkley’s pink backdrop lighting conveys the toxic beauty of it all. Visually, we can understand the yearning to escape and return.

While most TV dramas about pop cultural icons tend to circle like buzzards around the ever-present self-destructive turmoil, the theater has a more pressing interest -- trying to root out the mystery of a talent that makes a widespread connection with the world.

“Jersey Boys” traces the history of the Four Seasons’ blue-collar appeal and the way the group gave expression to the fantasies of everyday Americans who wanted to cruise around the neighborhood forever in the flush of love. And it reveals the stresses and strains behind one of the smoothest and most distinctive blends of pop voices ever put onto vinyl.

These textures aren’t embodied with the sensitivity that’s needed to raise the show from a jukebox celebration to heart-rending musical. But with a hit parade like this, you can get away with almost anything.

charles.mcnulty@latimes.com

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‘Jersey Boys’

Where: Ahmanson Theatre, 135 N. Grand Ave., Los Angeles

When: 8 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturdays, 2 and 7:30 p.m. Sundays

Ends: Aug. 31

Price: $25 to $100

Contact: (213) 628-2772

Running Time: 2 hours, 35 minutes

John Altieri...Bob Crewe (and others)

Miles Aubrey...Nick DeVito

(and others)

Erich Bergen...Bob Gaudio

Michael Ingersoll...Nick Massi

Christopher Kale Jones...Frankie Valli

Deven May...Tommy DeVito

Jackie Seiden...Mary Delgado

(and others)

Book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice. Music by Bob Gaudio. Lyrics by Bob Crewe. Directed by Des McAnuff. Music direction, vocal arrangements by Ron Melrose. Choreography by Sergio Trujillo. Sets by Klara Zieglerova. Costumes by Jess Goldstein. Lighting by Howell Binkley. Sound by Steve Canyon Kennedy. Orchestrations by Steve Orich. Production stage manager Tripp Phillips.