Bobby Fox, Scott Johnson, Glaston Toft and Stephen Mahy 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 began in Melbourne this past April. Previews started June 20, the cast celebrates the official opening tonight.
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.
‘Finding four performers to re-create the unique sound of the Four Seasons was never going to be easy,' says Australian co-producer Rodney Rigby of Newtheatricals, ‘And it wasn't. It was exhausting, it was exhilarating. But it wasn't easy.
‘We held auditions across Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth and Auckland. We saw more than 400 wannabe Four Seasons - some of them, actors and pop stars, big names in their own right - and we saw hopefuls for the ensemble, men and women who need to sing and dance and play roles that might have been written for a Martin Scorsese movie.
‘We then embarked on a six month round of trips, workshops and more auditions, this time with an international panel of 12 including the Broadway and Australian producers and the original Broadway creative team including Director Des McAnuff, Musical Supervisor Ron Melrose and Choreographer Sergio Trujillo.
‘Finally, Bob Gaudio, the Four Seasons' original member, the genius who sent the group into orbit with Sherry, a song he wrote "in about 15 minutes," gave his blessing to our Four Seasons: Bobby, Glaston, Scott and Stephen. If they were good enough for Bob Gaudio they were good enough for us.
‘So that was the hard part over. All we had to do now was to put on the show: a musical book with a gritty, compelling story that has it all: drama, comedy and music. The music of four guys who over four decades have been part of the soundtrack of most of our lives.'
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 - 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 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.
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.
Stephen Mahy (Bob Gaudio). Stephen graduated from WAAPA in 2006, the year after Glaston Toft and toured Australia with Miss Saigon, covering the roles of Chris and John. He has performed with Kookaburra the National Music Theatre Company, The Production Company and Guy Noble's Karaoke the Musical.
For more information, visit www.JerseyBoysInfo.com
