Jersey Boys

In the early 2000s, Bob Gaudio, an original Four Seasons member, sought to make a musical from the discography of the band. He hired book writers Rick Elice and Marshall Brickman, and director Des McAnuff (at the suggestion of Michael David of Dodger Theatricals). Brickman suggested creating a show about the band's history, instead of repurposing their songs for an independent story the way ABBA did with Mamma Mia!.[1] Brickman was drawn to the project because: "It's a classic American story. It's rags to riches, and back to rags."[2]

Little was known to the public about the group's history prior to the premiere of the musical, because the magazines of the era did not write much about them.[2][3] In their research, Brickman and Elice were surprised to find that the members had prison records, which might have prevented their music from being played if it had been publicized when they were active.[1][3] According to Gaudio, "Back then, things were a little clean-cut, don't forget, so the idea of our story getting out was horrifying to us."[4] Other bands of the time projected street-tough images, but The Four Seasons cleaned themselves up in order to be palatable for mainstream listeners.[2]

Brickman and Elice also used material from interviews with surviving Four Seasons members Gaudio, Frankie Valli and Tommy DeVito. While the Four Seasons as a group made headlines, as individuals they did not receive much press due to groups like the Beatles receiving the attention.[5] Brickman noted that each member had his own perspective on what happened during their tenure as a group. Of the three, they approached DeVito last, who told them, "Don't listen to those guys. I'll tell you what really happened." Elice said that getting DeVito's version was a "eureka moment" and the contradiction in their stories ended up being incorporated in the musical for a Rashomon effect.[1][6] The writers were also contacted by family members of the late mob boss Gyp DeCarlo to ensure that he would be portrayed respectfully.[4][7][8]

Although Gaudio was part of the initial development team, he was not involved in the creative process during tryouts, and only met the cast once the show had premiered.[9] Gaudio, Valli and DeVito had decided to step back from the show's creative process because they lacked objectivity, and they left it to Brickman, Elice and McAnuff to take the story to the stage.[3] However, Gaudio and Valli still had final say on whether to end the show if they did not like it.[6]

Jersey Boys premiered at the La Jolla Playhouse at University of California, San Diego, in an out-of-town tryout on October 5, 2004, and ran through January 16, 2005.[10] Christian Hoff, David Norona, Daniel Reichard and J. Robert Spencer played The Four Seasons.[11] At the end of the tryout, Norona, who originated the role of Frankie Valli, was replaced by John Lloyd Young, who originally had auditioned for the role of Tommy DeVito.[12]

The musical began previews on Broadway on October 4, 2005, and officially opened on November 6, 2005, at the August Wilson Theatre. The cast starred John Lloyd Young as Frankie Valli, Christian Hoff as Tommy DeVito, Daniel Reichard as Bob Gaudio and J. Robert Spencer as Nick Massi. The musical is directed by Des McAnuff, the then-artistic director at La Jolla Playhouse, with choreography by Sergio Trujillo. The Broadway production had 38 previews.[13] It reached its 4093rd performance on September 22, 2015, making it the 12th longest-running show on Broadway.[14] Notable cast replacements include Andy Karl and Richard H. Blake as Tommy DeVito, Sebastian Arcelus as Bob Gaudio and Ryan Molloy, who originated the role in the West End production, as Frankie Valli. The Broadway production closed on January 15, 2017 after 4,642 performances, with Mark Ballas as the final Frankie Valli.[15][16]

The first national U.S. tour of the musical began on December 10, 2006, at the Curran Theatre in San Francisco and went on to play in 38 cities. Jersey Boys played at the Forrest Theatre in Philadelphia, where it broke the box office record eight times before moving on to a return engagement in Boston.[17]

In May 2007, while the first national tour continued (with Steve Gouveia from the original Broadway cast as Nick Massi), a second company debuted at the Curran and ended as an open-ended run at Chicago's Bank of America Theatre, beginning on October 5, 2007.[18] The Chicago cast appeared on stage in the 2007 Emmy Awards in a tribute to HBO's The Sopranos.[19] A special holiday return engagement played at the Curran Theatre from November 20 through December 30, 2007, starring Rick Faugno as Frankie Valli, Andrew Rannells as Bob Gaudio, Bryan McElroy as Tommy DeVito and Jeff Leibow as Nick Massi. The majority of this cast became the original Las Vegas cast, which debuted at The Palazzo Hotel on Sunday, May 3, 2008,[20] in the newly built Jersey Boys Theatre. The show temporarily closed on January 1, 2012, and reopened on March 6, 2012, at Paris Las Vegas.[21][22] On June 7, 2016, it was announced that Jersey Boys would be ending its Las Vegas show on September 18, 2016.[23]

The musical made its West End debut at London's Prince Edward Theatre in February 2008. The creative team were the same as for the Broadway production. Principal cast were Ryan Molloy as Frankie Valli, Stephen Ashfield as Bob Gaudio, Glenn Carter as Tommy DeVito, Philip Bulcock as Nick Massi, Stuart Milligan as DeCarlo and Tom Lorcan as Donnie/Knuckles.[24] The production won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Musical.[25] Molloy performed the lead role for six years, making him the longest-running star in a West End musical.[26] The production moved to the Piccadilly Theatre on March 15, 2014, the same day that John Lloyd Young assumed the role of Frankie Valli.[27][28] On September 28, 2016, it was announced that the West End production will close after nine years on March 26, 2017.[29]

The Australian production opened at the Princess Theatre in Melbourne on July 4, 2009. Principal cast members were Bobby Fox as Frankie Valli, Stephen Mahy as Bob Gaudio, Scott Johnson as Tommy DeVito and Glaston Toft as Nick Massi.[30] The Melbourne production closed on July 25, 2010 and the Sydney production opened in September 2010.[31] The Sydney production closed on December 18, 2011. Jersey Boys then opened in Auckland in April 2012 with the new touring cast. Jeff Madden from Canada starred as Frankie Valli, with Declan Egan as Bob, Ant Harkin as Tommy, and Glaston Toft continuing on as Nick. The Jersey girls were: Francine and others played by Kat Hoyos, Lorraine and others played by Michelle Smitheram and Mary Delgado and others played by Lisa Adam. running through June 17, 2012. Following from New Zealand, the same cast then returned to Australia starting a national tour - Brisbane, return season of Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth. The show ran until June 30, 2013.[32]

Due to the success of the national tour's long stop at Toronto Centre for the Arts in Toronto, Ontario, in autumn 2008, a Toronto production opened on December 12, 2008 with a new, mostly Canadian cast that included Jeremy Kushnier and Jenny Lee Stern from the first national tour.[33] This production closed on August 22, 2010, on the show's second anniversary.[34]

An international tour with an all-South African cast ran in Singapore at the Marina Bay Sands resort from November 23, 2012, to January 27, 2013.[35] The production then performed in Johannesburg, South Africa, at the Teatro at Montecasino on April 3, 2013, and at Artscape Cape Town on June 19, 2013.[36] This company also performed at the Zorlu Center PSM, the Performing Arts Center in Istanbul, Turkey from November 13–24, 2013[37] and in South Korea from January 17 to March 23, 2014.[38] The same production performed an edited family-friendly version without profanity at Istana Budaya, Malaysia from April 15 to 27, 2014.[39] This cast includes Grant Almiral as Frankie Valli, Daniel Buys as Tommy DeVito, Kenneth Meyer as Bob Gaudio and Emmanuel Castis as Nick Massi.

A Dutch production, produced by Stage Entertainment, opened at the Beatrix Theatre in Utrecht on September 22, 2013. This production features the songs performed in English and the dialogue performed in Dutch, making it the first time the show has been performed in a language other than English. The cast includes Tim Driesen as Frankie Valli, René van Kooten as Tommy DeVito, Dieter Spileers as Bob Gaudio and Robbert van den Bergh as Nick Massi.

A national UK tour was launched in autumn 2014, opening at Palace Theatre, Manchester, where it ran from September 4 to October 4. This production has the same creative team as the Broadway and West End productions.[40] The cast includes Tim Driesen reprising his role from the Dutch production as Frankie Valli, with Stephen Webb as Tommy DeVito, Sam Ferriday as Bob Gaudio and Lewis Griffiths as Nick Massi.[41] A second national tour began in December 2017 at the New Alexandra Theatre Birmingham.[29]

In late 2014, a tour of the United States performed in a number of U.S. cities, including Denver in December.[8]

A Japanese production, directed by Shuntaro Fujita, opened at the Theatre Crea in Tokyo on July 1, 2016.[42] The cast includes Akinori Nakagawa as Frankie Valli.[43]

A tour in 19 cities of the United States performed from March 2016 through March 2017.[44]

An international tour of Jersey Boys opened at the Dubai Opera in October 2017.[45] This production then embarked on a tour of China from November 2017 - January 2018.[45] For both legs of this tour, The Four Seasons were played by Luke Street/Jonathan Vickers (alternating the role of Frankie Valli), Andrew Bryant (Tommy Devito), Matt Blaker (Bob Gaudio), and Nick Martland (Nick Massi).[46]

Only months after closing on Broadway, it was announced that the musical would reopen Off-Broadway, following the example of shows such as Avenue Q. It opened November 22, 2017, at New World Stages.[47][48] Starring Aaron DeJesus as Frank Valli. DeThe production has the same script and score as the Broadway production, but four fewer cast members, a smaller theater and lower ticket prices. The producers of the Off Broadway Jersey Boys are Dodger Theatricals, which also handled the show's Broadway and touring productions.[49] As of March 12, production was suspended through June 7, 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This suspension has been extended through September 6, 2020.[50] [51]

An Australian tour played in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane between 2018 and 2019. The initial cast announcement had Bernard Angel as Frankie Vallie, Cameron MacDonald as Tommy DeVito, Thomas McGuane as Bob Gaudio and Glaston Toft as Nick Massi.[52] However, due to unforeseen personal circumstances, Angel pulled out of the show and was replaced with the Frankie alternate, Ryan Gonzalez, with Daniel Raso as the new Frankie alternate.[53]

Jersey Boys is currently playing on Norwegian Cruise Liner, Norwegian Bliss. The show premiered on the new ship in 2018 and like all major Jersey Boys productions it is also cast by Dodgers Theatricals.

In October 2020, it was announced that Jersey Boys will return to the West End at the Trafalgar Theatre in April 2021.[54]

Ben Brantley of The New York Times wrote, "THE CROWD GOES WILD. I'm talking about the real, mostly middle-aged crowd at the August Wilson Theater, who seem to have forgotten what year it is or how old they are or, most important, that John Lloyd Young is not Frankie Valli. And everything that has led up to that curtain call feels, for just a second, as real and vivid as the sting of your hands clapping together."[55]

Charles Spencer from The Daily Telegraph wrote: "Overpaid, over-sexed and over here, it will, I suspect be some time before London says Bye Bye Baby (Baby Goodbye) to the PHENOMENAL Jersey Boys."[56] Benedict Nightingale from The Times said, "Oh What a Night. There were times when I felt that the performers were making even the Beatles sound somewhat lacking in musical texture."[57]

An original cast recording was made by Rhino Entertainment, Jersey Boys: Original Broadway Cast Recording (Rhino R2 73271), released in November 2005, which won the 2007 Grammy Award for Best Musical Show Album.[58][59][60] In February 2008, the album was certified Gold, having shipped more than 500,000 copies in the US.[61] In October 2009, the cast album was certified Platinum, selling over 1,000,000 copies in the United States.[62]

A movie adaptation of the musical, directed by Clint Eastwood, was released in 2014.

The West End cast of Jersey Boys appeared as a guest act for the Royal Variety Performance 2008, which was staged at the London Palladium on December 11 in the presence of senior members of the Royal family. The Royal Variety Performance is a gala event held annually at a major British theatre, to raise money for the Entertainment Artistes' Benevolent Fund.[63] In 2010, The West End cast of Jersey Boys performed a show, with the profits going to Children in Need. The show ended with Pudsey Bear joining in to sing a medley, and raised £60,150 for the charity. In 2009 the cast also appeared as a guest act for Children in Need.

Jersey Boys Chicago has been honored two years in a row at the Broadway Cares event for being the top fundraiser in the Tour category. In 2008, Jersey Boys Chicago raised $220,000 for BC/EFA.[64]

For every ticket sold for every Broadway performance in the month of October 2010, $1 was donated to the VH1 Save the Music Foundation. Jersey Boys aimed to raise funds to restore one full music education program in a New York City school.[65] The show eventually raised $43,521, enough to restore the instrumental music education program at PS 85 in the Bronx.[66] Plans were made to donate additional funds raised to a second VH1 Save The Music Foundation grant recipient school.[66]

Four actors of the original Broadway production, Christian Hoff, Michael Longoria, Daniel Reichard and J. Robert Spencer, launched a concert tour titled The Boys in Concert in 2010. Frankie Valli, Bob Gaudio, Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice sued the production, claiming that it "steals songs, stage elements and copyrighted logo" that imply that it is an authorized spin-off of Jersey Boys.[67] The production was rebranded as The 4 Hitmen, and Hoff, Longoria, Reichard and Spencer counter-sued, claiming that the accusations were false, and alleging the use of "bully tactics" in an "effort to injure the livelihood and the reputations" of the actors.[68] On September 23, 2010, Valli and company dropped the original suit, on the condition that the name of the performance is changed to distance itself from Jersey Boys.[69] As of May 2019, this production is still active, and is named The Midtown Men.[70]

The HBO series The Sopranos made several nods to Jersey Boys. For example:

• Frankie Valli played Mob captain Rusty Millio, one of a group of just-released prison felons referred to the show's fictional journalists as "the Class of 2004".[71]
• In The Sopranos episode, "The Ride" (May 7, 2006), Marianucci Gaultieri accompanies several other Green Grove Retirement Home residents on a bus trip to see Jersey Boys.
• And the Season 6 episode, "Walk Like a Man" (May 6, 2007), is titled after the Four Seasons' 1963 song.[71]