Jersey Boys Second National Tour Kick start performances at Forrest Theatre from Dec 06, 2011 and play through Jan 14, 2012. When the national touring company of “Jersey Boys” came to Philadelphia’s Forrest Theatre last year, it broke all box office records — more than 140,000 people saw it during its run.
So when the producers launched the second national touring production of “Jersey Boys” they chose Philadelphia as its first stop. The show is now playing at the Forrest Theatre through Jan. 14. “Jersey Boys” tells the story of Frankie Valli and the 1960s pop singing group the Four Seasons
“Philadelphia was an important city in launching the career of the Four Seasons,” says Rick Elice, who wrote the book for “Jersey Boys” with Marshall Brickman. “When the group came to Philadelphia in 1962, the city embraced them so wholeheartedly that their lives were irreversibly changed. They sold more than 120,000 records and they were stars.
“What makes this story so compelling is that this group of blue-collar boys from the wrong side of the tracks became one of the biggest American pop music sensations. They wrote their own songs, invented their own sounds and sold 175 million records worldwide — all before they were 30.”
“Jersey Boys” also launched Elice’s career. The show was his first Broadway credit and it won the Tony, Olivier, Outer Critics Circle, Drama League and Grammy awards for Best Musical. He and Brickman also wrote the book for “The Addams Family,” now playing at Broadway’s Lunt-Fontanne Theatre. And Elice wrote the book for last year’s Off Broadway hit, “Peter and the Starcatcher,” a prequel to the story of Peter Pan. Elice is hoping that it will move to a Broadway theater.
When “Jersey Boys” first opened at the LaJolla Playhouse, no one was more surprised at its success than Elice, Brickman and its director Des McAnuff.
“We were shocked when we first did it in LaJolla,” recalls Elice. “On opening night, the audience loved it and this was Beach Boy-territory, not Four Seasons. Marshall and Des said this must be some mistake, but the second night response was the same.”
“Jersey Boys” opened on Broadway in 2005 and became a hit. Today there are six productions of “Jersey Boys” playing worldwide.
“This is a great show,” says Elice. “It has great music and all those Four Seasons hits. It delivers a great story and the audience has a great time. Bob Gaudio and Frankie took what was essentially a low art form and elevated it on to the stage. They did to music what Roy Lichtenstein did for pop art; they took blue collar music to regular people.”
Elice says while the story and the music remain the same, new technology has improved the staging. “We didn’t have LED technology when ‘Jersey Boys’ first opened in 2005. In those days all we had was a single projector to project the slides. The show has now been refitted and its staging and projections are much more dramatic and very high-tech.”
Jersey Boys, now playing at the August Wilson Theatre, will becoming the 21st longest-running Broadway show following the evening performance on Monday, December 26. Jersey Boys celebrates Christmas by surpassing Avenue Q with 2,535 performances, becoming the 21st longest-running show in Broadway history, following the performance on Monday, December 26.
The musical, which opened in November 2005, is based on the life story of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons, and chronicles the lives of a group of blue-collar boys from the wrong side of the tracks who became one of the biggest American pop music sensations of all time. It won numerous awards, including the 2006 Tony Award for Best Musical. Jersey Boys Musical show is currently playing in New York; Las Vegas; London; Sydney, Australia; in cities across the U.S. on two National Tours, and a production will open in Auckland, New Zealand in April, 2012.
The show has a book by Academy Award-winner Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice, and features dozens of the group’s popular hits, including “Walk Like a Man,” “Sherry,” “Big Girls Don’t Cry,” “Oh What a Night,” and “Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You.”
The company currently features Matt Bogart (Nick Massi), Quinn VanAntwerp (Bob Gaudio), Andy Karl (Tommy DeVito) and Jarrod Spector (Frankie Valli), along with Peter Gregus and Mark Lotito.
The cast also includes Miles Aubrey, Erik Bates, Brad Bass, Cara Cooper, Ken Dow, John Edwards, Russell Fischer, Katie O’Toole, Joe Payne, Jessica Rush, Dominic Scaglione Jr., Nathan Scherich, Sara Schmidt, and Taylor Sternberg.
Cast members from the Broadway company of the Tony, Grammy and Olivier Award-winning hit musical Jersey Boys – Andy Karl, Nathan Scherich, Jarrod Spector, and Quinn VanAntwerp will perform on NBC’s “The Today Show” on Friday December 23 from 8:30 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. The cast will be singing a selection of songs from the newly released CD from Rhino, Seasons Greetings: A Jersey Boys Christmas.
“The Today Show” airs in the New York metropolitan area on NBC/Channel 4, 8:30 AM-10 AM; check local listings.
As previously reported, Bob Gaudio has produced the album, which has musical direction and arrangements by Ron Melrose. The selections on the 17-track disc include new versions of such classic holiday classics as “O Holy Night,” “Rise Up, Shepherd,” and “White Christmas,” as well as a “Santa Medley,” and performers include members of the original Broadway cast such as Tony Award winner John Lloyd Young, as well as other distinguished Jersey Boys alumni.
Jersye Boys is delivering a special holiday treat to fans this season with Seasons Greetings: A Jersey Boys Christmas, a new album featuring international cast members from Jersey Boys performing your favorite holiday tunes in the style of the famed Four Seasons.
Now, Rhino has created a 1-hour radio show about “Seasons Greetings: A Jersey Boys Christmas.” The radio show features New Music From “Seasons Greetings: A Jersey Boy’s Christmas” and exclusive interviews with Bob Gaudio, original founding member of The Four Seasons, the group’s principal songwriter, and also the producer of the musical and Christmas CD; Ron Melrose, Musical Director, Associate Producer, and also arranged music for the Jersey Boys musical and Christmas CD; Michael David, President of the Jersey Boys Production Company; and Ryan Malloy & Tony Award Winner John Lloyd Young, Members of the Jersey Boys cast featured on “Seasons Greetings: A Jersey Boys Christmas”. BroadwayWorld brings us Part 1 of the radio segment.
Check back the rest of the Parts.
SEASON’S GREETINGS: A JERSEY BOYS CHRISTMAS’ track listing includes:
1. “Joy To The World/O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” – Ryan Molloy
2. “Winter Wonderland” – Rick Faugno
3. “Little Drummer Boy” – Joseph Leo Bwarie
4. “Santa Medley: (Santa Claus is Coming to Town/Here Comes Santa Claus/I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus)” – John Lloyd Young
5. “O Holy Night/Rise Up Shepherd” – Jersey Boys Ensemble featuring Mark Ivey, with soloists Michael Ingersoll and Tituss Burgess
6. “God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen” – Bobby Fox
7. “Jingle Bell Rock” – Joseph Leo Bwarie
8. “A King Is Born” – Jarrod Spector
9. “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” – John Lloyd Young
10. “White Christmas” – Ryan Molloy
11. “I’ll Be Home For Christmas” – Jarrod Spector
12. “Angels From The Realms Of Glory” – Bobby Fox
13. “Silver Bells/Silent Night” – Travis Cloer
14. “Do You Hear What I Hear?” – Rick Faugno
15. “Breath Of Heaven/We Three Kings” – Travis Cloer
16. “Carol Of The Bells/Angels We Have Heard On High/
17. Auld Lang Syne” – Jersey Boys Ensemble featuring Joseph Leo Bwarie, Travis Cloer, Rick Faugno, Bobby Fox, Ryan Molloy, Jarrod Spector, John Lloyd Young and Erik Bates
Watch the video coverage of Las Vegas Philharmonic Holiday Celebration Preview with Travis Cloer, Kristen Hertzenberg & Maestro David Itkin Preview on KVVU
Cast members from the Las Vegas company of the Tony, Grammy and Olivier Award-winning hit musical Jersey Boys performed on “The Doctors” today December 15. Clcik below to check out the performance!
Cast members from the Las Vegas production of Jersey Boys will perform on the December 15 episode of the CBS series, The Doctors.
The musical is based on the life story of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons, and chronicles the lives of a group of blue-collar boys from the wrong side of the tracks who became one of the biggest American pop music sensations of all time.
The show has a book by Academy Award-winner Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice, and features dozens of the group’s popular hits
The Las Vegas cast stars Travis Cloer (Frankie Valli), Jeff Leibow (Nick Massi), Deven May (Tommy DeVito) and Peter Saide (Bob Gaudio). Jersey Boys Las Vegas will end its run at the Palazzo Theatre Venetian Las Vegas on January 1, 2012, and transfer to the Paris Las Vegas beginning March 6.
The First National Tour began in San Francisco at the Curran Theatre in 2006. Since that time, the Tour has logged 48,137 miles on its way back to Washington, D.C. Jersey Boys is the winner of the 2006 Best Musical Tony Award®, the 2006 Grammy Award® for Best Musical Show Album, the 2009 Olivier Award for Best New Musical, and the 2010 Helpmann Award for Best Musical (Australia).
Montgomery County native Joseph Siravo, who plays Gyp DeCarlo (among other roles), has been with the Tour from the beginning. Also on Tour from the start are company members Caren Cole (Keyboards), Gerbie Connolly (Wardrobe Supervisor), Christopher Miele (Reeds), Douglas “Pablo” Moscinski (Assistant Carpenter), Michael Murphy (Assistant Wardrobe Supervisor), Mark Papazian (Drums), R. Doug Rodgers (Company Manager), and Brian Silverman (Guitar).
Jersey Boys worldwide has been seen by approximately 13 million people (as of July 17, 2011). There are six Current Productions of Jersey Boys: New York; London; Las Vegas; Sydney, Australia; and two US National tours. Directed by two-time Tony® Award-winner Des McAnuff, JERSEY BOYS is written by Academy Award-winner Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice, with music by Bob Gaudio, lyrics by Bob Crewe and choreography by Sergio Trujillo.
