What makes ‘Jersey Boys’ so good is that it is a true story. It tells the tale of four boys from New Jersey who form a band, write their own songs, and go on to sell 175 million records, along the way crafting evergreen songs that have become part of our culture for the past 50+ years.
The story has a dark side with Tommy DeVito running up a massive debt that Frankie Valli and the band honour with years of performances.
The other name in The Four Seasons story is their friend Joe Pesci, who would later become a star in his our right as an actor in movies like ‘Home Alone’, ‘Lethal Weapon, ‘Raging Bull’ and ‘Goodfellas’.
‘Jersey Boys’ features an incredible number of hit songs, mostly written by Bob Gaudio but in later years Bob with his wife Judy Parker. Judy gave us ‘Who Loves You’ and ‘December 1963 (Oh What A Night)’. Bob and Judy attended the Melbourne opening in 2009. Sadly, Judy passed away in 2017.
‘Jersey Boys’ is an insight into the music industry long gone. The Four Seasons pre-dated The Beatles which meant to survive post-Beatles they had to be great. They did. Gaudio’s songs with Valli’s voice created a soundtrack for a generation. Tommy and Nick lucked out being with these two guys but it also took a genius producer to put it all together. He was Bob Crewe, the ‘George Martin’ of the Four Seasons.
Crewe was also a mastermind of a songwriter going on to pen ‘Lady Marmalade’ for LaBelle, ‘The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore’ for The Walker Brothers and Valli’s solo ‘My Eyes Adored You’.
Unlike ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ the real story of The Four Seasons hasn’t been bastardised in the name of “poetic license”. You will walk away from ‘Jersey Boys’ entertained and informed.
Bobby Fox, Scott Johnson, Glaston Toft and Stephen Mahy will star in JERSEY BOYS – The story of Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons, Broadway’s multi-award winning musical opening in Melbourne’s Princess Theatre on July 4. Rehearsals begin in Melbourne in April. Bobby Fox will play Frankie Valli, Scott Johnson is Tommy DeVito, Glaston Toft is Nick Massi and Stephen Mahy is Bob Gaudio – The Four Seasons.
JERSEY BOYS is the story of how four boys from the wrong side of the tracks became one of the biggest American pop music sensations of all time. Frankie Valli, Bob Gaudio, Tommy DeVito and Nick Massi wrote their own songs, invented their own sounds and sold 175 million records worldwide – all before they were thirty. JERSEY BOYS features their hit songs Sherry, Big Girls Don’t Cry, Rag Doll, Oh What a Night and Can’t Take My Eyes Off You, among many others.
Bobby Fox, Scott Johnson, Glaston Toft and Stephen Mahy met Frankie Valli in Las Vegas on February 3, when, with Rodney Rigby, he launched the Australian production. They met the media on stage at the 1600 seat Jersey Boys Theatre at the Palazzo Hotel-Resort-Casino, one of the North American theatres where his extraordinary story is playing. The show has swept North America and London and has now been seen by over 5 million people.
JERSEY BOYS is the winner of the 2006 Tony Award® for Best Musical. The Original Cast Recording of JERSEY BOYS won the 2006 Grammy Award for Best Musical Show Album and in its award winning week topped the Billboard Album charts. JERSEY BOYS, Australian co-Producer Paul Dainty believes, will be the biggest pop hit in the theatre since Mamma Mia! Like Mamma Mia! JERSEY BOYS is a bursting with hits that have resonated with new generations of fans for four decades.
JERSEY BOYS, unlike “tribute” musicals, has a gripping story,’ says Paul Dainty of Dainty Consolidated Entertainment. ‘It’s got edge. Attitude. Street cred. It’s about a darker side to the pop industry in the Fifties and Sixties. It touches a nerve but it sends you out wanting to sing with the sheer bliss of those hits. Unforgettable songs that are now part of our lives.’
JERSEY BOYS – The Story of Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons, written by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice, with music by Bob Gaudio, lyrics by Bob Crewe, directed by two-time Tony Award winner Des McAnuff and choreography by Sergio Trujillo, officially opened on Broadway to critical acclaim at the August Wilson Theater on November 6, 2005.
JERSEY BOYS productions opened in 2005 BROADWAY NYC, San Francisco in December 2006, Chicago in October 2007, London’s West End in March 2008, Las Vegas in April 2008, and Toronto in August 2008. There is also an ongoing North American National Tour.
After considerable time and effort by so many, it is an immense pleasure to finally have created the ideal home for JERSEY BOYS in Melbourne,’ said Broadway Producer Michael David, Dodger Theatricals USA. ‘We have the highest hopes that Melbourne will embrace this musical wholeheartedly, and that Australians from all over the country will be heading to Melbourne to experience the sheer joy this show currently brings on Broadway every night.’
JERSEY BOYS is produced in Australia by Dodger Theatricals, Newtheatricals, Dainty Consolidated Entertainment and Joseph J. Grano, Tamara & Kevin Kinsella, The Pelican Group in association with Latitude Link, Rick Steiner and Michael Watt.
BIOGRAPHIES
BOBBY FOX (Frankie Valli). Four-time world Irish Dance Champion, Bobby Fox travelled the world in Riverdance, Dancing on Dangerous Ground, and was the star of To Dance on the Moon. He moved to Sydney in 2002 and was Eddie in the Australasian Tour of Mamma Mia!. Other production credits include Leader of the Pack, Dusty – The Original Pop Diva, We Will Rock You, Sweet Charity, Damn Yankees and Spamalot.
SCOTT JOHNSON (Tommy DeVito). For the last 10 years the lead vocalist and guitarist in several rock bands, Scott’s theatrical credits include productions for STC, QTC and Marion Street Theatre and his film and television credits include Neighbours, McLeod’s Daughters, Jessica, Blue Heelers, Home and Away, Big Sky and Razzle Dazzle.
GLASTON TOFT (Nick Massi). Glaston, a graduate of WAAPA, understudied and performed the role of Peewee in TML Enterprises’s production of SHOUT – The Legend of the Wild One and his other career highlights include supporting roles in The Production Company’s Little Me and Camelot.