Jersey Boys Blog

Isn’t this a fun preview with JERSEY BOYS Broadway cast members and more?!

For the third week in May, JERSEY BOYS grossed $956,177 at the Broadway box office and had an 92.2% attendance rate. The 28 shows on the boards grossed $956,177, up over 3.4% from the previous week’s totals.

For full coverage of Broadway box office totals for the week ending 5/19/13, visit BroadwayWorld.com.

A Dutch version of JERSEY BOYS will open September 22, 2013 at the Beatrix Theatre in Utrecht with Tim Driesen, Dieter Spileers, Robbert van den Bergh and René van Kooten portraying Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons.

Valli will be played by Belgian-born Tim Driesen, who is mostly known for his roles in the UK and on the West End. He played Mark Owen in the Take That musical NEVER FORGET and is currently part of the cast of ROCK OF AGES at the Garrick Theatre.

Dieter Spileers will portray Bob Gaudio. Spileers, like Driesen, is Belgian and recently understudied Fiyero in the Dutch WICKED.

Robbert van den Bergh (Nick Massi) is currently alternating the title role in the hit musical SOLDAAT VAN ORANJE.

Tommy DeVito will be played by René van Kooten who has been playing leading roles in the Netherlands for the past few years, such as Jean Valjean in the LES MISERABLES revival, Alex in ASPECTS OF LOVE, Dr. Fine/Dr. Madden in NEXT TO NORMAL, Gaston in BEAUTY AND THE BEAST and Radames in AIDA.

In the Dutch version of the show, the songs will remain in English while all dialogue will be translated into Dutch. JERSEY BOYS will play the Beatrix Theatre in Utrecht.

For full details, visit BroadwayWorld.com.

It’s official! Clint Eastwood will be directing the film adaptation of JERSEY BOYS!

According to a recent Equity casting notice, the legendary actor/director has signed on to helm the film adaptation of JERSEY BOYS, written by John Logan. The film is currently slated to begin shooting this summer in Los Angeles.

The news comes a few months after Warner Bros. backed out of Jon Favreau’s planned adaptation, when the studio put the film on “turnaround,” allowing the Production Company, GK FILMS, to shop the project to other interested studios, including Paramount Pictures and 20th Century Fox. Prior to Warner Bros. picking up the film, it sat in limbo at Sony for a number of months. WB reportedly didn’t believe that the film’s large budget and potential international appeal were enough to continue pushing the project.

Visit BroadwayWorld.com for the complete story.

Well, what do you guys think of this official breaking news?!

Jeff Madden

After nearly four years, JERSEY BOYS Australia will be ending its run in about six weeks. Jeff Madden, who currently plays Frankie Valli in the JB Oz company, is reflecting on his many years with the show on his Taking the Wheel blog.

In his “Jersey Boys Top 5′s: 5 Moments That Make My Heart Soar” post, Jeff shares some amazing memories. Here’s a preview below:

4. Singing “Who Loves You”.
This is the final song in the show, and as such, it marks the end of an incredibly emotional journey, both for the audience and for me. It’s also the end of two and a half hours of hard work. So, when you combine the two together, I’m spent. As exhausted as I may be, it’s absolutely thrilling to sing this song. It’s high and hard to sing, sure, but seeing each of the guys come down to join me at the mic fills me with energy. The Four Seasons family is back together for one last hit song. It’s magic.

I get more energized when the rest of the cast run onstage, take their places, and join in with their incredible voices. I remember feeling pure elation the first time I saw this moment as an audience member. And while singing this song, I can see the elation in the eyes of the people sitting in the first couple rows. The song builds to its climax, we grab our mics and come right down on the lip of the stage. The four of us share a meaningful final look and acknowledge all we’ve been through. We’re survivors. And, like that famous song goes, we did it our way.

Then, finally, we sing one last crazy highnote-filled chord, we hit our final pose, the band nails their thrilling button. The lights snap to black… the crowd goes absolutely nuts… and in that moment… BOOM! Goosebumps.

Click HERE to read the rest of this marvelous post.

Jersey Boys Oz Four Seasons Declan Egan, Jeff Madden, Anthony Harkin and Glaston Toft making meatballs with Merrywell head chef Robert Ryan. Picture: Marie Nirme Source: PerthNow

The four men who play The Four Seasons in the Perth production of the stage show tracing the ‘60s pop sensations’ rise to fame took time out between performances this week to tackle frontman Frankie Valli’s famous meatball recipe alongside Merrywell’s chef de cuisine Robert Ryan.

Jeff Madden,Declan Egan, Anthony Harkin and Glaston Toft delighted onlookers at the New York style nosh up as they prepared the recipe handed down to Valli from his mother, which has become popular the world over.

Visit PerthNow.com to read the entire story and to check out Valli’s recipe.

For the second week in May, JERSEY BOYS grossed $891,835 at the Broadway box office and had an 90.4% attendance rate. The 29 shows on the boards grossed $24,246,233, up slightly over 3% from the previous week’s totals.

For full coverage of Broadway box office totals for the week ending 5/12/13, visit BroadwayWorld.com.

The Top 5 guys from this season’s “American Idol,” Burnell Taylor, Devin Velez, Paul Jolley, Lazaro Arbos, and Curtis Finch Jr., performed a medley of Frankie Valli & The Four Season’s classic hits with the pop icon himself! Enjoy!

DVR ALERT: Frankie Valli will be among the stars who will be featured on the season finale of Fox’s American Idol TONIGHT–Thursday, May 16th! According to The Hollywood Reporter, the legendary pop singer will perform with the top five male contestants, all of whom have already been voted off the show.

Great feature with JERSEY BOYS second national tour cast member Devon Goffman, who has returned to his hometown with the production this month. Check out a sneak peak of the interview in the Orchard Park Bee:

The musical, which runs from Wednesday, May 8, through Saturday, May 18, is the story of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. Goffman will play Tommy DeVito, the founder of the group.

“They’re legends — to tell that story on stage is really awesome. And, it’s my dream role,” he said. “Tommy is the leader of the Four Seasons. He narrates the show. His character is passionate.”

After graduating from Orchard Park High School, Goffman earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Fredonia State College, majoring in musical theater.

Goffman said being part of “Jersey Boys” is exciting, especially because he will be working with the production through the end of 2014.

“This is the best of the best,” he said. “It’s amazing to reach this place, which is something that I’ve dreamt of doing.”

Click HERE to read the entire interview.

For the first week in May, JERSEY BOYS grossed $833,113 at the Broadway box office and had an 83.4% attendance rate. The 31 shows on the boards grossed $24,611,043, virtually unchanged from the previous week’s totals.

For full coverage of last week’s Broadway box office totals, visit BroadwayWorld.com.

Happy Mother’s Day! To salute all of the moms on their special day, enjoy Frankie VALLEY’s rendition of “My Mother’s Eyes”!

Check out a sneak peek of Ben Siegel’s JERSEY BOYS review in the Buffalo News:

The decision to keep this glorious music native to its roots is the smartest thing the show does. It allows the story to steer the dramatic narrative arc, which is what Valli and his brothers – not to mention a tiring, pervasive theatrical genre – deserve. The amount of musical numbers is impressive, yet this still feels like a play with songs and not a musical with dialogue.

The result is an efficient, smooth, compelling piece of theater, with one of the finest pop scores around, regardless of origin. Director Des McAnuff, who also helmed “The Who’s Tommy” to Broadway in the 1990s with a similar perpetual motion, keeps this show flying at all times. Our anticipation of rags-to-riches clichés aren’t ignored, but acknowledged before moving onto the scene at hand.

Click HERE to read the full review.

Frankie Valli

DVR ALERT: Frankie Valli will be among the stars who will be featured on the season finale of Fox’s American Idol on Thursday, May 16th! According to The Hollywood Reporter, the legendary pop singer will perform with the top five male contestants, all of whom have already been voted off the show.

Full details on ClassicHitsandOldies.com.

Steve Orich

Exciting updates for JERSEY BOYS Tony Award-nominated orchestator Steve Orich!

• The staged reading of the Cole Porter classic Can-Can will be presented in Manhattan this summer and Steve Orich will be providing musical supervision, arrangements, and orchestration! The reading, which is set for July 15-17, will star Megan Hilty and Aaron Lazar. David Lee will serve as director and Patty Columbo will be choreographer.

  Steve is also set to be musical director of Can-Can’s Broadway revival, which is scheduled to arrive on the Great White Way in spring, 2014! Visit Playbill.com for full details.

• Additionally, Steve is orchestrating Broadway dancer-choreographer Noah Racey’s new dance musical show Pulse, which begins May 23 at Florida’s Asolo Repertory Theatre. For more details on Pulse, visit Playbill.com.

Congratulations & best wishes to Steve on his latest big news!

By Pamela Singer, Jersey Boys Blog Special Correspondent

Listen up, friends. Here’s the trivia question of the day. Just how far is it from Jersey to Detroit? For perennial Broadway favorite Dominic Nolfi, the answer is six New York City blocks, from 52nd to 46th Street to be exact. After wowing audiences for seven years in the worldwide sensation Jersey Boys, Dom is now heating up the boards again in Motown: The Musical. Motown tells the story of Berry Gordy, who founded the record company that changed the world and introduced us to some of the greatest recording artists in history. Procuring a $16 million dollar advance, Motown opened April 14th to enthusiastic reviews and has now been nominated for multiple Tony Awards. Charles Isherwood of The New York Times called the show “a musically vibrant trip back to the glory days of Detroit, sung by a blazing cast of gifted singers.” I sat down recently with Dom to talk about his Broadway journey and much more.

In person, Dom is Hollywood handsome, with Don Draper’s looks and Tommy DeVito’s charm. Dom joined the cast of Jersey Boys in La Jolla in 2004. Before taking on the enigmatic role of Tommy on Broadway for three years, he played seven different roles at one point or another. Quite a resume, wouldn’t you say?! Warm, articulate, down to earth and engaging, it’s easy to see why audiences and fans alike are drawn to Dom.

Pamela Singer: Great to see you again, Dom. Congrats on your new venture!

Dominic Nolfi: Thanks, Pam. You too.

PS: The last time we talked formally for this Blog was in September 2011. You had just left Jersey Boys and were contemplating several future projects.

DN: Yes, a lot has happened since then! I’m really fortunate and happy to be back on Broadway in another great show.

PS: How did you first get involved with Motown?

DN: A few months after I left Jersey Boys, my agent called and said the creatives at Motown thought I would be a good fit to play Barney Ales, Mr. Gordy’s Executive Vice President at the record company.

PS: Wow, so they actually sought you out. Read the rest of this entry »

Travis Cloer, Deven May, and Jeff Leibow at World Class Driving! (Photo Credit: Vik Chohan Photography)

On Thursday afternoon, JERSEY BOYS Las Vegas cast members Travis Cloer, Jeff Leibow and Deven May went to World Class Driving to experience the country’s first open-road muscle car adventure where they drove America’s most powerful hotrods – a 2013 Shelby GT500 and a 2013 Corvette Z06 – in a 50-mile, adrenaline-pumping excursion through Red Rock Canyon.

Visit Vegas24Seven.com for full photo coverage.

Last Sunday, Apri 28, 2013, the JERSEY BOYS first national tour company ended their run at the Curran Theatre in San Francisco after 2,598 fantastic performances all over the US & Canada! Thank you to JB fan Linda SooHoo for the fantastic photo coverage at the stage door!