^{Blair Gibson, Dalton Wood, Michael Pickering, Lewis Griffiths in Jersey Boys UK & Ireland Tour/Picture: Birgit and Ralf Brinkhoff}

There’s a star quality that orbits around anyone who holds the spotlight longer than average. And musical acts who manage to cling on to the greasy pole of fame also need a stack of songs that take up occupancy in our hearts and minds. Frankie Valli And The Four Seasons are a case in point. So even though Michael Pickering, Blair Gibson, Dalton Wood and Christopher Short are musical-theatre performers unlikely to make the status of household name, when they stand up and sing ‘Sherry’, ‘Walk Like A Man’, ‘Big Girls Don’t Cry’ and a plethora of other hits, we need to believe that they are. 

Casting has always been one of Jersey Boys’ strong points and this current UK tour is no exception. It’s easy to buy into the idea we’re watching Valli and his three fellow Seasoners (Bob Gaudio, Tommy DeVito and Nick Massi) rise from the mean streets of 1960s New Jersey to their eventual spot in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. Tales of broken families, mobster debt, in-fighting and promiscuous nights on the road (‘never lie to your mother, never tell the truth to your wife’, Massi advises) make for a rollicking story. But it’s the songs, and their harmony-perfect delivery, that brings Jersey Boys the enduring adoration it so richly deserves.

Jersey Boys is on tour until Saturday 6 May; reviewed at Edinburgh Playhouse.