Jersey Boys Opens in Australia July 4
By Andrew Gans
04 Jul 2009
The Australian production of the Tony Award-winning musical Jersey Boys officially opens July 4 at Melbourne's Princess Theatre following previews that began June 20.
The story of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons features four-time Irish Dance Champion Bobby Fox as Frankie Valli, Scott Johnson ("Neighbors," "McLeod's Daughters") as Tommy DeVito, Glaston Toft (SHOUT — The Legend of the Wild One) as Nick Massi and Stephen Mahy (Miss Saigon) as Bob Gaudio.
Australian co-producer Rodney Rigby of Newtheatricals said in a previous statement, "Finding four performers to re-create the unique sound of the Four Seasons was never going to be easy. 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."
Broadway producer Michael David of Dodger Theatricals USA added, "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. 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.
Jersey Boys, according to press notes, is "the story of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons: Frankie Valli, Bob Gaudio, Tommy DeVito and Nick Massi. It's a journey of how a group of blue-collar boys from the wrong side of the tracks became one of the biggest American pop music sensations of all time. They wrote their own songs, invented their own sounds and sold 175 million records worldwide — all before they were 30."
The creative team includes Tony-winning director Des McAnuff and choreographer Sergio Trujillo as well as Klara Zieglerova (scenic design), Jess Goldstein (costume design), Howell Binkley (lighting design), Steve Canyon Kennedy (sound design), Michael Clark (projections design), Charles LaPointe (wig and hair design), Steve Orich (orchestrations) and Ron Melrose (music direction, vocal arrangements and incidental music).
Jersey Boys arrived on Broadway in November 2005 at Broadway's August Wilson Theatre. The Broadway production garnered four Tony Awards: for stars John Lloyd Young and Christian Hoff, lighting designer Howell Binkley and for Best Musical.
The award-winning production features music by Bob Gaudio, lyrics by Bob Crewe and a book by Marshall Brickman & Rick Elice.
For more information, visit www.JerseyBoysInfo.com
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(l.-r.) Stephen Mahy, Bobby Fox, Scott Johnson and Glaston Toft in Jersey Boys.
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| photo by Jacob Andrzejczak |
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