As the awards-laden musical Jersey Boys marks its 20th anniversary, the show is working its way back to you with a new UK and Ireland tour that reunites the original creative team of director Des McAnuff, choreographer Sergio Trujillo and musical supervisor Ron Melrose.
“They’re the dream team,” beams Luke Baker, who heads the cast as Frankie Valli of the Four Seasons fame, “and this is the dream role. It’s been on my wish list for longer than I can remember and when it was on at the Prince Edward Theatre in London I worked front of house, so I saw it maybe 100 times.”
Having starred in Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, An Officer and a Gentleman and Billy Elliot in the interim, Wakefield-born Luke adds: “Now I finally get to play Frankie and it’s my biggest, most challenging role to date. It’s such a fast-paced show. When we first did a run through of act one it was like the first time you drive on the motorway, you put your foot down and go ‘God, this is fast’. Then you settle into it and it’s like ‘I’ve got this’. For me, being in this show is everything I hoped it would be and more.”
When it premiered on Broadway in late 2005, Jersey Boys was praised for its clever use of the Four Seasons’ music to tell their rags to riches story. As dramatised by book writers Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice, the musical charts their rise from four guys hanging out on the streets of New Jersey to their inauguration into the Rock and Rock Hall of Fame thanks to the chart-storming success of such hits as Sherry, Big Girls Don’t Cry, Walk Like A Man, Working My Way Back to You, December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night) and Frankie’s solo smash Can’t Take My Eyes Off You, to name just a few.
“The music is incredible and they were one of the few groups to have falsetto vocals as the lead parts,” Luke marvels. “They had such a unique sound and Frankie could sing anything from R&B and doo-wop to jazz and disco. His vocal ability is crazy and nailing Frankie’s famous falsetto takes a lot of work, but once you get there it becomes like second nature, as do the band’s very specific dance moves.”
As for the character of Valli, the actor adds: “There are so many layers to him. He’s loyal and determined, and he faces adversity head-on.” Without giving spoilers, he adds: “Like the rest of the band, Frankie suffers setbacks and tragedy in a show that’s as full of drama as it is of fun and fantastic songs. As jukebox musicals go, it’s the gold standard.”
Since it’s US premiere, Jersey Boys has been seen by more than 30 million people worldwide. It has won 65 major awards, including the Tony for Best Musical and, after it opened in London in 2008, the Olivier for Best New Musical.
The show’s awards haul also includes the Helpmann Award for Best Musical in the Australian homeland of Carlo Boumouglbay. Growing up in Queensland, Carlo got hooked on the Four Seasons’ songs, recalling: “My mum loved 60s rock n roll, so their music was always on in the car.” Years later he saw Jersey Boys in Sydney. “And I thought it was brilliant, not just because of all the songs but also because it tells their life stories. It gives you a peek behind the curtain of showbusiness. The music is amazing, of course, but it’s also a really gripping true story.“
Having moved to the UK a year ago, the actor whose CV includes Muriel’s Wedding and Miss Saigon now gets to play Tommy DeVito in the show. He’s relishing playing the band’s founder member and resident bad boy, saying: “Tommy’s got a lot of courage and he doesn’t mind getting his hands dirty. He’s maybe not the nicest of guys at times and he rattles a few cages, but he’s full of passion.”
The biggest challenge? Learning to play an electric guitar! “Never done that before,” Carlo laughs. “We have incredible musicians doing the real playing, so the finger-picking needs to look realistic. Then there’s the accent. I have to sound like I’m from New Jersey, not Queensland, but again we have an incredible dialect coach.”
Carlo is looking forward to taking the show around the UK and Ireland. “It’s going to be a voyage of discovery for me because we’re going to places I’ve never been to before. I’ve seen some of the towns and cities on TV and in films back in Australia, but now I get to experience them for real.”
Newcastle-born Lewis Kennedy plays bassist and arranger Nick Massi, of whom he says: “Nick is the quietest of the bunch and he’s often described as being really smart with a genius for harmonies.”
Like Luke, Lewis had auditioned for various Jersey Boys roles over the years. “So it’s always been on my wish list and I think it’s the best of all the so-called jukebox musicals because the script is so strong and it takes audiences, as well as we actors, on a big journey. It’s full of emotion and having each character narrate different bits of the story gives it a unique twist.”
Founded in 1960, Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons went on to sell 100 million records worldwide as one of the most successful bands of all time. The origins of their name, their mob connections and their affiliation with a certain future star of Goodfellas are all charted in the musical. “And before I saw it I didn’t know any of that stuff,” Lewis says. “I knew the music because my grandparents listened to it all the time, but the details of their rise to fame were surprising and fascinating.”
Jersey Boys ran for 12 years on Broadway and nine years in the West End, making it one of the longest-running musicals on both sides of the pond. Having enjoyed numerous international productions and tours, it returned to the West End at the renovated Trafalgar Theatre in 2012 and played for three years.
“Getting to be in the 20th anniversary tour is a real honour, especially as we’re working with the original team” says Lewis, whose other credits include The Pirates of Penzance and The Rat Pack Live. “I think the show has lasted this long because the book and the story are as strong as the songs and it takes us on a rollercoaster ride that mirrors what the band went through to achieve success.”
Completing the core cast is Toby Miles as baby of the Four Seasons bunch Bob Gaudio. “He’s the musical brains of the group,” Toby elaborates. “He writes a lot of the music and he’s very clued-up, articulate and business-oriented. He’s an interesting character because, unlike the others, he’s not largely driven by emotion.”
Having previously been in Les Misérables and School of Rock, Toby concurs with his castmates when he says: “It’s a dream role in a dream show. I’ve always loved the music and the show has a lot of heart. It appeals to all demographics, I think, and there’s so much happening in terms of the relationships between the characters. It’s deep and charged and quite brilliant in its storytelling.”
The Newcastle-born actor has piano-playing in his skill set, so the musical numbers are in his wheelhouse. “I’m lucky in that respect because it’s an instrument that I’m comfortable with. But the show is challenging in other ways because the script is packed full of dialogue and it moves at an incredibly fast pace. Each of us gets to narrate a ‘season’ in the story and that means directly addressing the audience, which is fun.”
The writers did extensive interviews with band members and the people who knew them. “So the script is a treasure trove,” says Toby, “alongside the usual research tools like YouTube clips.” And as for why the musical has had a staying power to match that of Frankie and the band themselves, he feels: “People grew up with this music, either the first time around or because their parents continue to play it or because they’ve heard it on the radio. Songs like Oh, What A Night and Beggin’ have had second lives, and on top of that there’s this riveting story.”
Frankie Valli will be played at certain performances by Ellis Kirk, who hails from Huddersfield and has been in Dear Evan Hansen, Two Strangers Carry a Cake Across New York and Back to the Future. “Like the others I auditioned for Jersey Boys before and now I get to be in it, which is fantastic,” he smiles. “There are so many things that hooked me in about it, from all those Four Seasons hits which are great fun to perform to how it explores these characters and their journey across several decades.”
The creative team have proven to be an invaluable help. “They know the show inside out and they’ve got lots of background information that we can delve into,” Ellis says, “plus the script is so brilliant that it does a lot of the work for you. I love getting to play these different age ranges as well as being able to explore a character who is so driven and ambitious.”
As for literally hitting the high notes, he says: “It’s vocally demanding but ever since I was a kid I’ve sung falsetto. And there’s so much more to Frankie’s voice. The falsetto made him famous but with songs like Can’t Take My Eyes Off You, for example, there’s a deeper register and so much grit to his singing.”
And as for what makes Jersey Boys stand out as a musical, Ellis feels: “The other guys have said it already, but on top of the brilliant music there’s such a gripping story. And it’s not just a musical that has all your favourite songs in there, they’re there for a reason – to tell a fascinating true story that’s as compelling as any work of fiction.”Â
Jersey Boys comes to Wales Millennium Centre 11-22 August.
