COURTLAND
Just to read the titles can be enough to start the music playing in your head: “Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You,” “Big Girls Don’t Cry,” “Working My Way Back to You,” and, of course, “Sherry.”

These and many other hits will be heard when “OH WHAT A NIGHT! A Musical Tribute to Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons” comes to Courtland on Saturday. The show is part of the performing arts series organized by the Franklin-Southampton Concert Association.

George Solomon, the show’s writer and co-producer, spoke by phone on Friday about its origins and effects.

“I had been doing a solo show that was well received and directed by Michael Chapman. After I did a performance of “Sherry,” he said, “Why don’t we do a show about Frank Valli and The Four Seasons?”

That idea obviously appealed to both men, and the writing began. Their show premiered in Fall 2008.

“We never considered ‘Jersey Boys.’ I only finally saw it in Melbourne, Australia, last year,” Solomon said. “We didn’t want to duplicate it.”

As he sees it, “OH WHAT A NIGHT!” and “Jersey Boys” help each other. Audiences who see one show have been inspired to see the other.

Speaking of inspiration, Solomon said the question he gets asked most often is whether or not he’s met Frankie Valli himself.

“No, I’ve still not gotten to meet him,” he said. “He’s always on tour.

“We never dreamed it would get so big,” Solomon said, adding that the show has grown since to use 40 men in different set-ups performing across the country and even around the world.

The same four men are rarely together for lengthy times.

“We like to mix it up,” he said, mentioning that he and Paul Holmquist, who’s also the choreographer, will be at this weekend’s performance. But they’ll have two other singers different than the ones pictured in a press release.

Everybody gets their time to shine no matter who or where they’re performing, and there are a lot more songs, dances and even costume changes.

“You get to know the personalities,” he added.

Solomon stressed that “OH WHAT A NIGHT!” is very family friendly. Audience members ranging in age from 6 to 85 can enjoy it together.

“The bottom line is that it’s about the music of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons,” he said. “It’s an all-around feel-good show. We want people to leave very happy.”

“OH WHAT A NIGHT!” begins at 7:30 p.m. and will be in the auditorium at Southampton High School, 23350 Southampton Parkway, Courtland. Tickets at the door cost $30 per adult and $10 for students.

For more information, call Nancy Rowe at 653-2498 or Bill Vick at 653-2892. You can also visit www.OhWhatANightTribute.com.