IT can be a strange feeling watching an actor on stage pretending to be a real-life figure.

You know this person is not Frankie Valli, the audience know it too, but if you close your eyes you could never tell.

That was just how good Jersey Boys was at The Mayflower last night.

The story of how the Four Seasons emerged from New Jersey street corners to conquer the globe with a string of hits is a fascinating and engaging one - with or without the music.

It's split into four parts (seasons, obviously) with each narrated by a different member, although they do not exactly agree on everything that happened to them during their rise to stardom.

The principal cast - Matt Corner as Valli, Stephen Webb as Tommy DeVito, Sam Ferriday as Bob Gaudio and Lewis Griffiths as Nick Massi - are electric on stage as much as in their harmonies.

Each stand out in their own way and it is impossible not to care about them - DeVito the troublemaker with the heart of gold whose bluster and bravado is responsible for getting them off the ground; Valli and Gaudio, the respective talent and brains needed to keep them at the top, and Massi - the heart and soul of the group who is probably the truest 'Jersey Boy' among them.

The Jersey scene has provided the world with some outstanding artists - Bruce Springsteen, Bon Jovi and Whitney Houston among them - but the Four Seasons feel like the group that first put it on the map.

Their genuine rags to riches story of fame and all the problems that go with it (mainly DeVito's massive debts in this case) was touching - aided by a terrific supporting cast including Amelia Adams-Pearce as Valli's feisty first wife Mary who proves more than a match for the young crooner until success inevitably drives them apart.

There are massive highs, few lows, plenty of heartbreak and some dynamite tunes, and just like with the group, when you add all the ingredients you get a truly memorable performance.