Jersey Boys exists as one of not that-many Broadway musicals that goes beyond the term “jukebox” when presenting the memorable hit songs of a musical performer or group. In telling the story of the rise and fall of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, the show gets us inside the times, place and forces that shaped them and their music. No wonder it’s been a critical success as well as a popular one since debuting 20 years ago.

Some, if not all, of the magic of Jersey Boys comes through in Florida Studio Theatre’s current production of the musical, at the Gompertz Theatre. The show, with an often funny book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice, moves along briskly, with a big story to tell, and it demands a lot of its cast and crew. It’s also packed with so many of the group’s hits—“Sherry,” “Walk Like a Man,” “My Eyes Adored You,” and many more—that it’s quite a vocal test for the main actors.

That cast includes Nicolas Fernandez as Frankie, Corey Greenan as Tommy DeVito, Andrew Mauney as Nick Massi, and Landon Zwick as Bob Gaudio. We’re introduced to them early on in the 1950s in the mean streets of Newark and its environs, where, as tough guy Tommy says, you had three choices: join the Army, join the mob, or become a star. No surprise the boys choose the latter option, although the mob is never far away, either.

Another handful of hard-working actors—Abby Goldfarb, Rachel Querreveld, Carey Blackburn, Matt Beary, Kevin Shiu, Damon McToy, Alan Gillespie and Dane Agostinis (with Kyle Montgomery and Elana Valastro as swing members) shift in and out of a wide variety of characters, some more successfully than others. There are the women in Frankie’s life, mob guy Gyp DeCarlo, songwriter/producer Bob Crewe, and even Joe Pesci—yes, that Joe Pesci.

But always at the core are the four guys who made up the original Four Seasons, struggling from bowling alley appearances and jail stints to making it big in concerts and recordings, boosted mostly by the unique falsetto voice of Valli. Their harmonies while singing remain true even when their personal relationships are all screwed up, largely thanks to DeVito’s domineering ways and gambling debts.

Greenan is believable as the swaggering DeVito, Andrew Mauney more quietly real as the perhaps underappreciated Nick, and Zwick brings out some of Gaudio’s quirkiness, especially in his early scenes as a teenager with a confidence in his own songwriting abilities, but awkward in his lack of experience with women. As Frankie, Fernandez has a huge task; he’s onstage virtually all of the time, and he must represent the most familiar face and voice of the group. At times I found his falsetto felt almost like a parody rather than a tribute, but there’s no doubt Fernandez is giving his all.

So is music director and pianist Nathaniel Beliveau, who must try to reproduce the sounds of an orchestra here. For me, that lack of an orchestra was a disappointment, compared to other productions of Jersey Boys I’ve seen. But it should be said that the sold-out opening night audience didn’t seem to feel that way, responding with enthusiasm to the beloved music throughout and with a standing ovation at the end.

Jersey Boys continues through May 25 at FST. For tickets, call (941) 366-9000 or visit floridastudiotheatre.org.