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<p>SCRANTON &#8212; Aaron DeJesus used to get a kick out of bending and manipulating his voice, just to hear the different ways it could sound.</p><p>&#8220;When you&#8217;re a kid, you&#8217;re fascinated with those British accents,&#8221; he said in a telephone interview. &#8220;And my Dad had a New York/New Jersey accent because he was born and raised in the Bronx. That was fun to play with.&#8221;</p><p>In recent months DeJesus has given his voice another task: Hit the high falsetto notes, the way Frankie Valli did in such hits as &#8220;Rag Doll,&#8221; &#8220;Walk Like a Man&#8221; and &#8220;Sherry,&#8221; or as you may remember that last one: &#8220;SHE&#8212;E&#8212;E&#8212;E&#8212;E&#8212;R&#8212;RE&#8212; BA&#8212;A&#8212;BE.&#8221;</p><p>DeJesus sings those songs and more in &#8220;Jersey Boys,&#8221; a touring show the Broadway Theatre League of Northeast Pennsylvania will bring to the Scranton Cultural Center Jan. 17-22.</p><p>The show tells the story of The Four Seasons &#8212; Valli, Tommy DeVito, Bob Gaudio and Nick Massi &#8212; whose hits topped the charts in the 1960s and &#8217;70s.</p><p>&#8220;Whether you grew up then, or not, you&#8217;ve heard their music,&#8221; DeJesus said. &#8220;If you&#8217;ve been alive and have ears, you&#8217;ve heard it on oldies stations, commercials, TV and movies.&#8221;</p><p>Maintaining the soaring vocals in &#8220;Big Girls Don&#8217;t Cry,&#8221; &#8220;Working My Way Back to You&#8221; and other numbers isn&#8217;t painful, the singer said.</p><p>&#8220;No, thank heaven, it doesn&#8217;t hurt. It is exhausting vocally, physically and emotionally, but it doesn&#8217;t hurt. If it did, I&#8217;d be doing something wrong.&#8221;</p><p>One song he particularly enjoys is &#8220;Beggin&#8217;,&#8221; which comes at a point in the show when Valli asks a reputed mobster for help dealing with a loan shark. &#8220;There&#8217;s so much tension and angst,&#8221; DeJesus said.</p><p>Gambling debts, mob ties and brushes with the law were part of The Four Seasons&#8217; story, but they&#8217;re a far cry from DeJesus&#8217; real life, in which he follows the tenets of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints to avoid alcohol, tobacco and caffeine.</p><p>&#8220;I do adhere,&#8221; said DeJesus, who earned a bachelor of fine arts degree from Brigham Young University. &#8220;I don&#8217;t drink or smoke. I don&#8217;t party. I live my life the best I can. I don&#8217;t get any flak for it.&#8221;</p><p>The best part of touring with the show, the singer said, is meeting fans of The Four Seasons who tell them the music is part of their lives.</p><p>&#8220;Maybe they played &#8216;Can&#8217;t Take My Eyes Off Of You&#8217; at their wedding,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Or they might say something like they remember where they were when JFK was shot, when Sept. 11 happened, and the first time they heard &#8216;Sherry.&#8217;&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">&#8216;Jersey Boys&#8217; will bring the music of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons to the Scranton Cultural Center Jan. 17-22. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/web1_jersey.jpg</photo0><caption0>&#8216;Jersey Boys&#8217; will bring the music of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons to the Scranton Cultural Center Jan. 17-22. </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/web1_jersey2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">The &#8216;Jersey Boys,&#8217; each of whom narrates part of the show, include characters who portray real-life members of The Four Seasons, Frankie Valli, Tommy DeVito, Bob Gaudio and Nick Massi. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/web1_jersey2.jpg</photo1><caption1>The &#8216;Jersey Boys,&#8217; each of whom narrates part of the show, include characters who portray real-life members of The Four Seasons, Frankie Valli, Tommy DeVito, Bob Gaudio and Nick Massi. </caption1><photoCredit1></photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/web1_jerseykiss.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Frankie Valli&#8217;s first wife, Mary Delgado, married him when the band was just starting out. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/web1_jerseykiss.jpg</photo2><caption2>Frankie Valli&#8217;s first wife, Mary Delgado, married him when the band was just starting out. </caption2><photoCredit2></photoCredit2></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Aaron DeJesus portrays lead singer Valli in &#8216;Jersey Boys&#8217;</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p><strong>By Mary Therese Biebel</strong></p><p>mbiebel@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p><strong>IF YOU GO</strong></p><p><strong>What: </strong>&#8216;Jersey Boys&#8217;</p><p><strong>Presented by: </strong>Broadway Theatre League of Northeast Pennsylvania</p><p><strong>Where: </strong> Scranton Cultural Center, 420 N. Washington Ave., Scranton</p><p><strong>When:</strong> 7:30 p.m. Jan. 17 to 19; 8 p.m. Jan. 20; 2 and 8 p.m. Jan. 21; 1 and 6:30 p.m. Jan. 22</p><p><strong>Info:</strong> 570-342-7784</p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Mary Therese Biebel at 570-991-6109 or on Twitter @BiebelMT</p></shirttailMeta></div>

‘Jersey Boys’ heads to Scranton Cultural Center Jan. 17-22