It’s a cold Groundhog Day this February 2, 2019 in the Northeast United States. Despite the fact that Punxsutawney Phil did not see his shadow this morning, lovers of ‘60s music did get to see plenty of star power in the spotlight tonight at Englewood, NJ’s BergenPAC with a live performance by The Midtown Men!
The first-ever vocal group formed by cast members of a major Broadway show, The Midtown Men — Michael Longoria, Christian Hoff, Daniel Reichard, and J. Robert Spencer — starred together in the cast of Jersey Boys where they played the roles of Frankie Valli, Tommy DeVito, Bob Gaudio, and Nick Massi from the iconic ‘60s group, The Four Seasons.
These days, the quartet performs at venues around the country, bringing to life the greatest hits of the 1960s, with a special emphasis on the music of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons.
As we wait inside BergenPAC’s auditorium for tonight’s show to begin, we chat with a family of four from Paramus.
Says son Aidan, 13, “I’ve loved the music from the ’50s to the ’90s since I was little, but my favorite group is Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. I listen to their music on the internet all the time. I’ve seen the movie of Jersey Boys, and I’m looking forward to seeing the Broadway show, too.”
Describing her son as “an old soul,” Aidan’s mom, Mabel, reveals, “He sings all the time — at home and in the school choir,” before dad, Bill, notes, “We come to BergenPAC often, and when we saw The Midtown Men were coming here tonight, we decided to bring the whole family.”
Aidan’s sister, Annibel, tells us she enjoys listening to current pop artists like “Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj” in addition to “K-Pop — Korean pop music.” Aidan, however, acknowledges that, in addition to the music of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, he also loves such classic artists as “Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson, Queen, and Michael Bublé.”
Next we chat with Jessica and Diana, a granddaughter and grandmother from Saddlebrook.
Reveals Jessica, “This is my grandma’s Christmas present. Last year, my mom took her to see The Midtown Men for her birthday, and I’m taking her this year.”
Explains grandma Diana, “I was a fan of Jersey Boys, so I decided to see The Midtown Men. After enjoying them here at BergenPAC with my daughter last year, I had to come back again — I love them!” before exclaiming, “Following last year’s show, they were in the lobby and I walked up to them and screamed, ‘I love the way you dance!’ — I just couldn’t help myself!”
With regards to starting a new tradition which involves a third generation family member, Jessica says she looks forward to seeing The Midtown Men tonight stating, “I saw Jersey Boys on Broadway and it was amazing — I just love this music!”
The lights dim and tonight’s opening act takes the stage — the combined members of two musical groups: the students of the Bergen PAC Performing Arts Choir and the Broadway Youth Ensemble.
Singing and dancing to the packed house, this group of 26 area youngsters performs a selection of material which includes a lively medley of Broadway show tunes including “Lullaby of Broadway,” “Give My Regards to Broadway,” and “42nd St.”
They also perform a medley of hits from the movie, The Greatest Showman, complete with hand motions.
The audience reacts with avid cheers and applause for these youngsters whose enthusiasm and charm perfectly set the stage for tonight’s main attraction, The Midtown Men!
A video on the big screen behind the stage introduces the story of The Midtown Men, explaining that all four were original cast members of Broadway’s Jersey Boys who wanted to start their own group so they could take what they were doing in New York City and perform it out on the road for audiences all across the country.
Members of the singing group’s seven-piece band take their places before a bass drum starts to boom and a three-piece horn section begins to wail. Here, the members of The Midtown Men — Michael Longoria, Christian Hoff, Daniel Reichard, and J. Robert Spencer — take the stage running with an energetic rendition of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons’ “Let’s Hang On.”
With Michael Longoria handling the lead, the rest of the Midtown Men back him with pinpoint three-part vocal harmonies.
Following avid applause, Christian Hoff greets the audience, asking “How are you, Jersey?” at which point the Jersey crowd responds with even more cheers and applause!
The quartet follows up with Daniel Reichard singing lead on Jackie DeShannon’s “Put a Little Love in Your Heart.” Then, the group — featuring Christian Hoff — performs a smooth version of The Turtles’ “Happy Together” as images of The Midtown Men harmonizing in various combinations appear on the screen.
J. Robert Spencer tells a story about how his teenage son sang The Beatles’ “I Want to Hold Your Hand” at a school audition and made three girls cry, proving, as he says, “This music still resonates with youth today.”
After Spencer is featured on The Foundations’ “Build Me Up Buttercup,” Michael Longoria takes the lead on The Beach Boys’ “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” while images of Longoria appearing in Broadway’s Hairspray and Jersey Boys fill the screen.
As the show continues, the audience learns that before he was a Jersey Boy, Christian Hoff provided the lead voice for the Richie Rich cartoon series and also performed on Broadway in The Who’s Tommy. Hoff is then featured along with flute, trumpet, and trombone on a jazzy rendition of John Sebastian and The Lovin’ Spoonful’s “Daydream,” complete with a Jersey Boys’ whistling solo.
Daniel Reichard — who starred in Forbidden Broadway and Candide at the New York City Opera — takes his turn in the spotlight on The Beatles’ “All You Need Is Love.”
Then, J. Robert Spencer — who performed in Cats and Broadway’s Next to Normal — handles the lead on The Midtown Men’s version of Van Morrison’s “Moondance,” the horns and flute adding their own special colors to the group’s rousing rendition.
The audience loves Michael Longoria’s high-flying performance of “Be My Baby,” which features on-screen images of Ronnie Spector and The Ronettes. Horns blare as Christian Hoff soulfully sings lead on the group’s rendition of The Beatles’ “Got to Get You Into My Life” where all four singers dance with their microphone stands.
The crowd reacts with excited applause before Hoff responds, “It’s a treat to sing in Jersey! How lucky and blessed we were when Jersey supported our show,” reminding the audience that Jersey Boys ran for 11 years on Broadway before it closed and recently re-opened as an off-Broadway revival.
One of several highlights of tonight’s concert is Daniel Reichard’s powerful rendition of “Cry For Me” — a song which real-life Four Seasons’ member Bob Gaudio sang at his very own audition for the group!
Reichard’s performance has the entire crowd cheering and applauding!
Then, to conclude Act I, the quartet delights the packed house with a medley of Jersey Boys’ hits including “Working My Way Back to You,” “Big Girls Don’t Cry, “Big Man in Town,” “Ragdoll,” and “Walk Like a Man.” Audience members dance in their seats while happily singing along!
During intermission, we chat with several audience members who share their impressions of tonight’s performance thus far.
Remarks Arnie from Englewood, “I’ve been waiting so long to see The Midtown Men and I am so excited to be here,” before declaring, “What harmonies! I love it! I can’t help dancing in my seat!”
Says Nola from Queens, “We love all the songs and we know all the words,” before her cousin, Louiseann, adds, “This music brings back great memories of when we were young, single, and carefree!”
Kathy from Manhattan acknowledges, “I’m a big Frankie Valli fan. I’ve seen Jersey Boys three times, and I’ve seen The Midtown Men two times,” adding, “I saw them at the Beacon Theater in New York where they had three surprise guests — The Rascal’s Felix Cavaliere, The Crystals’ LaLa Brooks, and Petula Clark,” before concluding, “I love their songs and I know all of their music!”
Act II opens with The Midtown Men’s instrumentalists playing a medley of TV theme songs — notably those from The Pink Panther, The Munsters, Batman, and Hawaii 5–0 — while clips from each vintage show flash on the big screen.
The members of The Midtown Men retake the stage with an upbeat rendition of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons’ “Beggin’” which features dazzling choreography!
Daniel Reichard handles the lead on The Rascals’ “Good Lovin’” before Christian Hoff is spotlighted on The Midtown Men’s rendition of The Zombies’ “Time of the Season” — complete with handclaps and breathy “aahs.”
An audience favorite is the quartet’s high-energy rendition of The Monkees’ “(I’m Not Your) Steppin’ Stone,” which features J. Robert Spencer’s lead vocal and top-notch drum set playing from the Midtown Men’s ace percussionist.
Paying homage to another “Jersey” band — The Rascals — the quartet performs “Groovin’,” after which Christian Hoff exclaims, “I’m loving this crowd!”
The group launches into their own version of Buffalo Springfield’s “For What It’s Worth.” With Hoff singing the song’s iconic “It’s time we stop, children/What’s that sound/Everybody look what’s going down” lyric, the upbeat arrangement also features a smooth tenor sax solo.
Michael Longoria takes the lead on Frankie Valli’s “My Eyes Adored You” — a number which mentions the Jersey Shore with its “Walking home every day/Over Barnegat Bridge and Bay” lyric.
The audience sings and claps along on with Longoria and Co. on Frankie Valli’s solo hit, “Can’t Take My Eyes off of You.”
All four Midtown Men are featured on Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell’s “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough,” before the crowd leaps to its feet for Frankie Valli and The Four Season’s “Oh, What a Night,” with everyone standing, singing, and dancing!
As audience members continue to clap and cheer, The Midtown Men invite the youngsters of the Bergen PAC Performing Arts Choir and the Broadway Youth Ensemble back to the stage for a selfie before both groups combine for a performance of The Four Seasons’ “Bye Bye Baby.”
On this show-stopping finale, there’s singing, dancing, and waving both on the stage and out in the audience before the big screen proclaims in large letters, “You Rock Englewood!”
As audience members make their way out of the auditorium, we chat with several concertgoers who share their opinions of tonight’s concert with us.
Keith from Cobleskill NY says, “This was a fun night out with friends and family! I’m very impressed by The Midtown Men — they have great music, dancing, and performing,” before noting, “In my opinion, they are real Broadway veterans.”
His friend, Freida from Englewood, agrees adding, “I enjoyed watching the screen with all of the old time TV shows and movie clips — they took me back to my youth and added to the performance.”
Cheryl from Willingboro declares, “The Midtown Men are so entertaining! Their shows always make my day! I love their music and I love watching them sing and dance!”
We also catch up with several members of the family from Paramus with whom we spoke before the show.
Exclaims 13-year-old Aidan, “This concert was amazing — even better than I imagined it would be! I loved the singing, the staging, and the dancing. I would see it again!”
Aidan’s mom, Mabel, concurs adding, “It was very engaging, and I especially loved how they gave the background information on all of the performers.”
Lastly, we also catch up with granddaughter and grandmother Jessica and Diana from Saddlebrook, with whom we also spoke earlier.
Remarks Jessica, “The Midtown Men were great — I was singing the whole time!”
Grandmother Diana heartily agrees, joking, “Didn’t you hear me? I was singing, too!” asserting, “I love The Midtown Men! They are fabulous — just wonderful!” before declaring with an enormous grin, “I’m happy!”
To learn more about The Midtown Men, please go to themidtownmen.com. For information on upcoming performances at BergenPAC — including The Oak Ridge Boys on March 7, Christopher Cross on March 10, and Air Supply on Mar. 23 — please click on bergenpac.org.
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