JB National Tour Jersey Girls Juggle Multiple Roles!
February 14th, 2007Leba Hertz of the San Francisco Chronicle reports on the ‘Jersey Girls’: Sandra DeNise, Jackie Seiden, and Melissa Strom–the three women who play multiple roles in the national tour production of Jersey Boys at the Curran Theatre.
There are 52 costume changes, 49 wigs and 46 roles for the women in Jersey Boys, but only three actresses perform on any given night. DeNise plays 16 roles, Seiden 12 and Strom 18. There’s also Jennifer Evans. She’s what’s called the swing and knows all of those parts. These are the Jersey Girls — masters of the quick change, running up and down stairs in 3 1/2-inch heels and switching characters faster than you can say Frankie Valli.
The women believe playing so many parts helps their performances. And just when you think they have a couple of minutes to relax backstage, they’ll be dancing and grooving to the music, not only to keep their energy up but also because they love the music.
Although supporting roles, each woman gets her moment to shine onstage.
Strom, who has the most changes in the show, plays Frankie’s daughter Francine. DeNise’s big role is Lorraine, a composite of Valli’s girlfriends, and she also gets a kick out of pushing the props onstage in various small roles (“It’s good to remember that … if I didn’t push that chair out there, there’d be no chair,” she says).
The role of Valli’s wife, Mary, is Seiden’s big role. Seiden stated,
This is a rags-to-riches story, and success comes at a price. I feel as though the women really represent the failure of the family life and the home life. The more successful the guys get, the more the women suffer, and I really feel that this journey of Mary is just a great supporting role for Frankie and it’s the exact opposite journey of the group.
To hear Sandra DeNise, Jackie Seiden, Melissa Strom and Jennifer Evans talk about their roles in “Jersey Boys,†go to sfgate.com/podcasts.
That was a fascinating article! I’m blown away by the number of quick changes the girls have. They handle them very well!
Comment by Hillary — February 17, 2007 @ 4:19 am