Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons perform Aug. 25, 2018 in the Amphitheater. Valli returns to the Amphitheater July 19.
Oh, what a night! Late July here in ’24 will be a very special time for Chautauqua, with a hypnotizin’ mesmerizing evening of songs from Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons.
Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons will perform a selection of career-spanning hits at 8:15 p.m. tonight in the Amphitheater, marking Valli’s fourth appearance at the Institution, following previous performances in 1987, 2004 and 2018.
Deborah Sunya Moore, senior vice president and chief program officer at Chautauqua Institution, said she is very excited for Valli’s return to the Amp stage.
“When he came in the past, I was just so impressed by the joy of that concert,” she said. “There’s just something really special about people coming together to hear and even sing along with songs that they know that well.”
Valli’s energy in 2018, she said, “carried us through a beautiful evening.”
Valli and The Four Seasons were scheduled to perform last summer, closing out Week One in Chautauqua’s largest open-air venue, but canceled their appearance because of poor air quality and smoke from the 2023 Canadian wildfires. Chautauquans instead attended an Amp screening of “Jersey Boys,” but nothing compares to the real thing.
“While ‘Big Girls Don’t Cry,’ I’m sure I was not alone when we had to cancel Frankie’s performance at Chautauqua last year due to the smoke and air quality,” Moore said. “And – I know I’m not alone in my excitement to have him return to the Amphitheater.”
A native of Newark, New Jersey, Valli decided that he wanted to be a star at only 7 years old after his mother took him to see Frank Sinatra perform.
In the early 1960s, Valli and The Four Seasons made it big with the song “Sherry,” followed by a slew of other singles that topped the charts throughout the decade. He is known for his career-spanning, widely-popular tunes like “Walk Like a Man,” “Rag Doll,” “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” and, of course, “Big Girls Don’t Cry.”
During their long career together, Valli and The Four Seasons have sold over 100 million records worldwide, and they continue to play shows that welcome intergenerational audiences to celebrate the legacy of the lauded artists and their songs.
Valli’s life served as inspiration for the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical Jersey Boys — and then the movie adaptation — which chronicles his life and career, demonstrating the lasting impact of his music and introducing his work to new generations and audiences.
Moore hopes that families spanning generations will come to tonight’s performance to experience Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons and their enduring legacy.
“I’m looking forward to a joyful night that celebrates a living legacy of songs we continue to cherish,” she said.
