Review: Tribute show wins audience over

Any act which can get a Dunedin crowd clapping and singing within a few minutes of starting deserves a standing ovation, which is exactly what happened in Dunedin's Regent Theatre last night.

Oh What A Night, the Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons - A Musical Tribute premiered its 10-day New Zealand tour in the city and judging by the audience reaction, the four men are in for a great time.

George Solomon, Brandon Albright, Paul Holmquist and Rick Morgan are ''The Four Seasons'' and each of them sings as Frankie Valli during the fast-paced two-hour show.

Solomon and Albright alternate the falsetto parts which made the Four Seasons such a large part of the 1960s and 1970s.

The greatest hits kept on rolling but with the added bonus of some slick choreography. In fact, it was difficult to keep up with the dancing and the singing. The fitness of the men was exemplary.

But it was the package. The lighting was a bit part of the success of the show. The corny jokes were just that, but they were funny. While Solomon played the straight man in the jokes, the other three kept the audience in fits of laughter with bad jokes and bad accents.

This reviewer's pick was the harmonies in Silence is Golden, made famous by the Tremeloes but recorded three years earlier as the B side of a Four Seasons top 10 hit.

The women in the audience nearly swooned when Albright turned his back and wiggled his backside - before calling for more.

Solomon raced into the audience singing ''Grease is the word'' and nearly did not make it back, after being grabbed on to a knee of an audience member.

The encore was a package of the best of the best. The Las Vegas-based group provided quite a night.