My mother called up from her winter rental in Century Village, Boca Raton, Florida.
“Hey, Mom. How you doing?”
“Good. I saw a fabulous show last night.”
“Oh yeah? What?”
“I forgot the name.  A singing group. There is a show about them on Broadway.”
“I don’t know.”
“You do know.”
“Frankie…”
“You mean Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons?”
“Yes.”
“You saw Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons?”
“No.”
“Oh, you mean they had a production of Jersey Boys at Century Village?”
“No. It was people doing the songs of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons.”
“So, that’s Jersey Boys.”
“No, Jersey Boys is the story of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. This had no story. It was just the songs of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons.”
“So, they were Frankie Valli and the Four Season imitators?”
“No, they were more imitators of Jersey Boys.”
“Jersey Boys ARE imitators of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. So what you saw was an imitator of an imitator.”
“But they were very good. Now I don’t need to pay $100 and see Jersey Boys.”
“This reminds me of when you went to Italy last year and the tour bus ran out of time, so they took you to see an imitation of the imitation of the statue of David.”
“Next week, I’m going to see Tom Jones.”
“Tom Jones is coming to Century Village?!”
“No. Someone who sings like him.”
“Then STOP saying you’re going to see Tom Jones. You’re not seeing Tom Jones. You’re seeing a Tom Jones imitator. It is confusing me when you say that. Say that you are seeing a Tom Jones imitator.”
“It says in the brochure, “Hear the music of Tom Jones.””
“Yeah, it is the songs of Tom Jones. But you’re not really seeing Tom Jones.”
“Eh, if he is good enough, does it really matter?”
“So, why don’t you hire someone who looks and sounds JUST like me to be your imitation son. That would be the same thing, right?”
“Maybe my imitation son would actually send me a Hanukkah card, hmm?”
I had the SAME exact conversation with my grandma the other night.
Score one for Mom and Grandma! 😉
Good one Mama Kramer!
Are you sure your mom isn’t in Vegas? 🙂 What a funny conversation. I love your Mom!
Wife and I saw jersey Boys and thoroughly enjoyed it. Maybe an imitator would be good, they could stand-in when you want to be off doing other things.
And the truth quotient of this post is…?
This post made me crack a big smile.
Didn’t you not send her a Hanukkah card last year too? Imitation crab would make a better son 😉
How does Hallmark spell Hanukkah?
Instant Rim Shot!
I see myself in the future zinging my boys the way she did. Go Mama K! :’)
p.s. It’s probably better she sees an imitation Tom Jones.
You have to love a mom who can think on her feet.
I think we all in some way have the same mother. I guess that means that my kids will be talking about me some day.
I like your mum a lot …!
This may add to confusion, Kramer-family-wide, but the original Broadway cast of Jersey Boys (you know, the show about Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons, featuring their hit songs) does a concert tour in which they sing the songs made famous by (you guessed it) Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons. The producers of Jersey Boys aren’t happy about this, and had their lawyers delay the tour for some time. I know one of the performers, who points out that he and the others are making a lot more money than they were on Broadway. It sounds likely your mother saw them.
The photo is of the original cast of Jersey Boys, but the people touring are not the complete original cast.
True. But three out of four are. The fourth on the tour is Michael Longoria who was in the original cast (not as one of the Four Seasons) but covered John Lloyd Young and took over the role of Frankie Vallie the month Young left.