Frankie Valli brings his show to the Hard Rock Live in Hollywood in March. (Courtesy Frankie Valli)

The iconic Frankie Valli. Iconic may sound cliché but there really is no other way to describe the influence Valli and his group had in the music industry and the legendary hits they produced.

Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons’ classic hits include “Sherry”, “Big Girls Don’t Cry”, “Walk Like A Man”, “Rag Doll” and “December 1963(Oh, What a Night)”. These are all songs that will never be forgotten and Valli’s solo career that included “My Eyes Adored You” and “Grease” was the icing on the cake.

For many years, Valli always saw himself as part of a group and it wasn’t until his later years that Valli became the front man, eventually pursuing a solo career.

See Frankie Valli in March | See Jersey Boys at the Broward | Visit this writer’s website

Since I mostly review live concerts I’ve often wondered if the passion and happiness we see on the stage from performers continues off stage. We, the audience, assume this life of fame and money leads to a trouble-free, easy-going life, but at what price? Truth is, any career we choose to pursue affects all areas of our life and these are the sacrifices we make for the choices we’ve made. So what really happens once the band leaves the stage?

The musical Jersey Boys now playing at the Broward Center gives you that insight. Watching the cast reenact situations that occurred in the lives of Valli, Tommy Devito, Nick Massi and Bob Gaudio — the original members of the Four Seasons — you can’t help but be drawn into the drama. Seeing it unfurl on stage makes it seem so much more personal than just reading about it. I was so taken in I shed a tear for Valli when he lost his daughter, but I don’t want to give any more away. This is a musical you just need to see especially if you plan to see him in concert in March.

I guarantee if you see Jersey Boys and then Frankie Valli in concert you will feel a personal bond with the man and admire his determination and ambition over all these years. The only thing the musical doesn’t tell me is how Valli feels today, at the age of 77, singing these songs that are full of emotions and memories.

For those who don’t know it, Jersey Boys is a chronological musical of the life of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons and their rocky road to success, which landed them in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990. From under the streetlamp in New Jersey to five No. 1 hits that took the music world by storm, Valli and The Four Seasons have a very interesting story.

Jersey Boys is not your typical musical but rather a mini-concert featuring the Four Seasons’ biggest hits, all the while telling a story. The entire cast is so spot-on and Joseph Leo Bwarie, who plays Valli, has such a beautiful range in his voice, it’s as he was singing the original. I like the way one of the cast actually talks, not sings, like a narrator between songs. I was engrossed from the minute it began and found myself asking “Did this really happen to him?”

Here we were idolizing a singer who never once let on to the fact that off the stage his life was in turmoil. Now, not everything in his life was horrible and most would say that is the price you pay for fame. Jersey Boys has been a smash-hit since it first came out on Broadway and thanks to Broadway Across America, we get to enjoy it here in Florida. Jersey Boys has received the Tony Award for Best Musical, accolades in London and Australia and was named the No. 1 show in Las Vegas.

Jersey Boys at the Broward Center in Fort Lauderdale continues until Sunday with matinees on both Saturday and Sunday. Tickets are still available.

Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons perform live at the Seminole Hard Rock in Hollywood March 2-3.