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A little rock, a little country comes to the Kirby

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Larksville police searching for adult store flasher

<p>While they were busy on Broadway originating the roles of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons in &#8220;Jersey Boys,&#8221; four of the show&#8217;s stars were also singing other classics of the 1960s on the side.</p><p>&#8220;We kept getting these calls, asking if the four of us could perform at corporate events and private parties,&#8221; said J. Robert Spencer, who originated the role of bass guitarist and bass singer Nick Massi. &#8220;We said we couldn&#8217;t do the Four Seasons songs because of our contracts, but we could sing Beach Boys songs and Beatles songs and Rascals songs.</p><p>&#8220;And that&#8217;s how the Midtown Men started, because people were asking us to do it.&#8221;</p><p>After Spencer, Christian Hoff (who played Tommy DeVito), Daniel Reichard (Bob Gaudio) and Michael Longoria (the original production&#8217;s second Valli) each left the show and went their separate ways, the foursome came back together as the Midtown Men full time five years ago.</p><p>Two albums, a Christmas song produced by Steven Van Zandt with backing by members of the E Street Band, a PBS special and nearly 2,000 live shows followed.</p><p>&#8220;In a way, our notoriety for the Midtown Men eclipsed our notoriety for &#8216;Jersey Boys&#8217;,&#8221; Spencer, whose next role in &#8220;Next to Normal&#8221; garnered a Tony nomination, said. &#8220;We are so incredibly blessed to love what we do, and audiences keep embracing us over and over.&#8221;</p><p>The Midtown Men will be at the Keystone Grand Ballroom at 8 p.m. July 25 Mohegan Sun Pocono. Hope you already have your tickets, as the show is completely sold out.</p><p>The group&#8217;s first album, &#8220;Sixties Hits,&#8221; was released in 2011, and the 2014 PBS special, &#8220;The Midtown Men: Live in Concert,&#8221; was subsequently released on CD, DVD and Blu-ray, and will be shown again in September during the next pledge drive.</p><p>In addition to Four Seasons&#8217; favorites such as &#8220;Let&#8217;s Hang On,&#8221; &#8220;Working My Way Back to You,&#8221; &#8220;Big Girls Don&#8217;t Cry,&#8221; &#8220;Sherry&#8221; and &#8220;December 1963 (Oh, What a Night),&#8221; the group also does fine renditions of other &#8216;60s classics such as &#8220;Can&#8217;t Buy Me Love&#8221; (The Beatles), &#8220;Wouldn&#8217;t It Be Nice&#8221; (The Beach Boys), &#8220;Groovin&#8217;&#8221; (The Rascals) and &#8220;Happy Together&#8221; (The Turtles).</p><p>Spencer, who said he is normally a baritone/tenor and only sings bass on the Four Seasons songs, usually sings lead on the Jimmy Webb tune &#8220;Galveston&#8221; made famous by Glen Campbell and &#8220;Ain&#8217;t That Peculiar&#8221; by Marvin Gaye, whom he called his favorite singer.</p><p>Spencer said the group was still riding high from a recent sold-out performance at New York City&#8217;s Beacon Theatre with Shirley Alston Reeves of the Shirelles, La La Brooks of the Crystals, Gene Cornish of the Rascals and Petula Clark sitting in on a few tunes.</p><p>&#8220;Can you imagine, we got to sing &#8216;Will You Love Me Tomorrow&#8217; with Shirley, and &#8216;Good Lovin&#8217; while Gene provided that well-known guitar, and then we sang &#8216;Downtown&#8217; with Petula Clark!&#8221;</p><p>Spencer, who is also an independent film director, producer and writer, was just finishing up a role as Abraham Lincoln in &#8220;The unCivil War,&#8221; which he described as a &#8220;seven man, bluegrass musical comedy,&#8221; when he called to talk about the upcoming concert.</p><p>&#8220;In a few days, my beard comes off and I will be back on stage with the Midtown Men,&#8221; he said.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">The Midtown Men will perform Saturday at Mohegan Sun Pocono. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/web1_MMM1.jpg</photo0><caption0>The Midtown Men will perform Saturday at Mohegan Sun Pocono. </caption0><photoCredit0>Photos courtesy of The Midtown Men </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/web1_MMM2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">The Midtown Men will perform Saturday at Mohegan Sun Pocono. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/web1_MMM2.jpg</photo1><caption1>The Midtown Men will perform Saturday at Mohegan Sun Pocono. </caption1><photoCredit1>Photos courtesy of The Midtown Men </photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta></subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Brad Patton</p><p>For the Times Leader</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p>IF YOU GO</p><p>Who: The Midtown Men</p><p>When: 8 p.m. Saturday</p><p>Where: The Keystone Grand Ballroom at Mohegan Sun Pocono, 1280 Highway 315, Plains Twp. For more information: visit www.themidtownmen.com</p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Brad Patton has been reviewing concerts and writing about music for the Times Leader and Weekender for more than five years. He also hosts a two-hour radio show on 88.5 FM-WRKC (Radio King&#8217;s College) every Tuesday at 7 p.m.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Midtown Men mayhem at MSP