Midtown Men Bring Holiday Cheer, Oldies to the Ford Center

By Ashton Logan
Hottytoddy.com intern
ablogan1@go.olemiss.edu

As the first guitar chord hums and the Midtown Men start to sing in harmony, the audience is instantly taken back to a time of quaint simplicity before the hustle and bustle of today’s modern culture.

From left to right, Daniel Reichard, Micheal Longoria, Christian Hoff, and J. Robert Spencer. Photo provided.

The Midtown Men are comprised of the original stars of the hit Broadway play “Jersey Boys” making them the first ever vocal group to be formed from a high-profile, theatrical show. Christian Hoff, Micheal Longoria, J. Robert Spencer, and Daniel Reichard bring to life the greatest hits of the 1960s, and according to Longoria, the fabric of American music.

“We found ourselves warming up before shows singing songs from that same era, and before you knew it, we had a repertoire of songs that we could take out on the road,” he said.

Tony Award winner Hoff, Longoria, Reichard, and Tony Award nominee Spencer quickly realized that their harmonious chemistry went far beyond the bright lights of Broadway. Since “Jersey Boys,” the group has performed all over the country in over 2,000 shows, performances and events, making audiences fall in love time and time again.

“After Jersey Boys, we all kind of did our own things for a little while, but we always were getting that call to come back together to perform for a gala or a benefit or different events. It just started to make sense to try for real,” Longoria said. “What was going to become kind of a side project became a full time job and a full time opportunity to use our voices to get to go all over the country.”

The vocal group is currently on a nationwide tour singing hit songs like “California Dreamin’,” “Big Girls Don’t Cry,” “Can’t Buy Me Love,” and “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” to audiences in various cities.

“I get to share my truth, which is my voice. Singing in harmony with my best friends on the road, when we are up there on stage you become one voice, and that’s the truest form of our spirit. That’s who we are,” Longoria said. “Sharing my voice with people that would have never met me, singing my heart out to them is a great gift.”

The vocal group will be performing in Oxford at the Ford Center of Performing Arts Saturday, Dec. 7 at 7:30 p.m. Follow this link to purchase tickets.