Review: Rotorua Boys’ and Girls’ High School students nail Jersey Boys production

Rotorua Boys' High School and Rotorua Girls' High School students nailed the Jersey Boys production.

Review

What: Jersey Boys

Who: Rotorua Boys’ High School and Rotorua Girls’ High School

Show running: Until Saturday, August 31

It’s not often you have those moments. You’re watching a show, your jaw drops and you literally say “wow”.

That happened while sitting in the crowd watching the Rotorua Boys’ High School and Rotorua Girls’ High School production of Jersey Boys.

As an avid fan of every production these schools have put on, I went along unsure how they’d muscle up to previous shows, especially knowing full well this year they’d lost some impressive talent who had now left school.

First, a bit of background. Jersey Boys follows the musical journey of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons. It’s described as a timeless tale of friendship, loyalty, and the pursuit of dreams against all odds – what a perfect choice for a bunch of teens who are looking to set their own goals and follow their dreams.

The four young Italian-Americans go from singing on street corners, under a streetlight in Belleville, New Jersey, cracking the big time.

With songs like Sherry, Big Girls Don’t Cry and Walk Like a Man, they become stars but, like any good story, there’s a twist as personal and professional problems threaten to tear the group apart.

Back to that jaw-dropping moment.

It happened when Baedyn Kiore – the young man playing the role of Frankie Valli, walked on to the stage and hit his first note.

There it was. The signature Frankie Valli sound coming out of a Year 13 Rotorua Boys’ High School boy.

Did Rotorua Boys’ High School decide to bring Jersey Boys to the stage based on the perfect casting of Kiore alone? You wouldn’t blame them.

Each time Kiore went to grab the microphone, I’d get excited to hear where his notes would take him.

His quartet consisting of Eraia Kiel, Wayne Boynton-Rata and Juandre Mare (loved his cheeky low notes) were doing some spectacular stuff.

While the intricacies of their note selection might have been lost on some of the crowd, it shouldn’t go unnoticed just how much dedication has gone into perfecting those delicate harmonies. It screamed of the work of vocal director extraordinaire Elisha Fai-So’oialo who is proving a master of ensuring these young singers develop a knowledge of vocal learnings that go beyond just having a nice voice and being able to sing in tune.

Hats must go off to Kiel who played the tricky role of Tommy DeVito. He nailed that Latino accent all the way through and somewhere along the line he must have developed a mega memory to know the hundreds of lines he was expected to deliver. He was commanding.

Director Cameron Hay – who has 20 years’ experience with Rotorua Boys’ and Rotorua Girls’ productions – can be proud of his debut at the helm and no doubt the students are now all the better off from having soaked up his knowledge.

While we are dishing out the compliments, other standouts deserve mentioning including Grace Hemana who was striking playing the role of Mary Delgado, Manaia Christiansen for his strong delivery of Norm Waxman, forever crowd pleaser Adrian Hurihanganui for his roles as the Frencher Rapper and Joe Pesci, and Teiringatahi Webster-Tarei for being that amazing dancer you can’t take your eyes off.

But let’s leave the main stage for a minute. What makes these Rotorua Boys’ High School productions stand out is the calibre of musicianship. While most schools probably opt for the backing track option to make life easier, Rotorua Boys’ always uses a live band.

And if the school’s head boy Jared Lasike hasn’t had an impressive enough year (remember that Anzac Day speech?), here he goes again wowing those around him by taking on the role of musical director and keyboard player.

Rotorua Boys' High School head boy Jared Lasike.

He expertly led the talented bunch – including skillful guitarist Toby James, impressive drummer A.J. Smalley-Hutch and bass player Ranui Gibson.

But among all the praise, it must be said there is one part that could have been better. And that’s us, the audience. While I am hoping I just struck the conservative night, if you’re reading this and are yet to go to the show, don’t be afraid to let loose.

These students have spent hours and hours perfecting their notes, lines and steps, practising in front of a mirror, their parents and their mates.

A great cast feeds off a great audience so don’t be afraid to swing in your seats, clap your hands, let out the odd “woohoo” and show these students just how remarkable their efforts are.

The show runs until Saturday night. Tickets are available to buy online through the Rotorua Boys’ High School website. Adults, $20, students $10, family of two adults and two children $50.

Kelly Makiha is a senior journalist who has reported for the Rotorua Daily Post for more than 25 years, covering mainly police, court, human interest and social issues.