Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2005 | 8:10 a.m.
When: 8 p.m. through Dec. 8. Dark, Nov. 23-24, 28, Dec. 2-3
Where: Luxor Theatre
Tickets: $54.45
Information: 262-4900
Frankie Valli will always be remembered for his falsetto vocals in such classic pop-rock hits from the '60s as "Sherry," "Big Girls Don't Cry" and "Walk like a Man."
Some director must have had a sense of humor when he cast the falsetto as a member of "The Sopranos."
For the past two seasons the icon of the early days of rock has had the recurring role of Rusty Millio in the top-rated HBO series about the mob.
"I did an audition five years ago, but I didn't get the job," Valli said. "They told me they liked what I did, but they didn't think I was right for the part that I read for."
He was told they would look for a part for him.
"I thought they were just being very nice, and I went about my business and forgot about it," Valli said. "Four years later, they called me; I came in and did it. I did four episodes last year, and this year I have two or three."
Which gives him plenty of time for concert dates and other business, such as watching over his investment in "Jersey Boys," a musical about Valli and the Four Seasons that recently opened on Broadway.
The 68-year-old native of Newark, N.J., can still hit the high notes.
You can hear them for yourself at the Luxor, where Valli and his new crew of Four Seasons will be performing through Dec. 8.
There won't be many surprises in the performance.
"People come to hear the hits," Valli said.
And he is happy to accommodate the fans.
"Fortunately, or unfortunately, we've had a lot of hits," he said. "Some acts who've only a couple of hits have to fill out their time doing a lot of other material -- we have never had to do that.
"We like to bring in new stuff, to do other material, but it's a luxury to be able to do that. Fans come in to hear the music that you've recorded."
Valli isn't one to disappoint fans. After all, they helped him out of a life of poverty.
"I lived in the projects right up to the time I became successful," he said.
He is dismayed at today's youth, who seem to take things for granted.
"I've worked my whole life," Valli said. "I worked my tail off to accomplish what I needed to become successful.
"There was no one there to send me to a university. I had to do it on my own, but that's a good thing. It gives you a sense of responsibility. You don't look for somebody else to take you someplace. In the end, it's all about hard work."
Valli liked jazz when he was growing up and envisioned himself becoming a jazz artist.
"Basically, that's what my roots were," he said. "I never wanted to be a pop singer. I grew up listening to a number of jazz artists -- they were my early influences; that's what I did for a long time in clubs around New Jersey and New York, but nothing was happening and so I decided to take the pop route."
His newly formed pop group in the mid-'50s was called "The Four Lovers," which had a Top 40 hit in 1956 called "Apple of My Eye."
In 1960 the group changed its name to "The Four Seasons" and the hits started piling up.
They performed in Vegas frequently in the '60s.
"We worked at the Flamingo in the lounge with Fats Domino," Valli recalled. "In those days you did three or four shows a day, and twice a week you did extra shows -- and you would do shows at 4 in the morning."
He laments the changes.
"I don't know if they are good or bad," he said, "but it's very impersonal anymore. It's not what it used to be. Now, since corporations took over, every part of the entity is expected to make money -- you feel like every single thing you do you have to pay for."
In the old days visitors felt they were getting some things for free -- free (or inexpensive) food and drinks; inexpensive rooms.
"But it wasn't really free," Valli said. "People left their money gambling."
Other things have changed, such as relationships between performers and casinos.
Last year Valli was going to have a long-term engagement with the Flamingo, but the deal soured.
"I don't know whats happening," he said. "Some people just don't live up to the deals they create."
It's just as well that the Flamingo didn't work out. He isn't looking for anything long term at this point.
"At this point in my life I'm not working because I need to work," Valli said. "I'm doing it because I love to do it."
When his engagement with the Luxor is over, he's going to take some time off.
He wants to make sure everything is going well with his Broadway show (he's a major investor in the production).
"The next step, we're negotiating to bring the play to the United Kingdom and Canada," Valli said. "People want us to bring it on the road.
"And there is some interest here in Vegas."
Besides the play, he has a jazz project.
"I've been very involved with it for a year and a half, and I'm about halfway there," he said. "I'm specking an album of standards, done in a commercial jazz style."
He is very content with where his life is now at.
"I'm just enjoying it," he said. "I'm at a period of my life where I'm really having a good time watching all the things that are going on."
Jerry Fink can be reached at 259-4058 or at [email protected].
archive
