May 28, 2006

Daniel Reichard Makes Cleveland Proud

May 28th, 2006

In today’s edition of the Cleveland Plain Dealer theatre critic Tony Brown provides an in-depth interview into Rocky River (a Cleveland suburb) native Daniel Reichard’s debut on the Great White Way as one of the Four Seasons in the biggest musical hit of the 2005-06 season, Jersey Boys.

Reflecting on playing Bob Gaudio, Reichard states,

“Valli and Gaudio have come to see the show several times, and that used to make me real nervous — playing someone who’s not only alive, but sitting in the audience. ..But his wife, his kids, his friends — they all say it’s him, that I’m him. That sort of blew me away.”

Although his whirlwind of fame along the Rialto is sudden, Reichard has long labored in the trenches in New York, doing off-Broadway shows including Forbidden Broadway.

Another one of those experiences was the short-lived off-Broadway musical Radiant Baby, that gave Reichard experience playing a real-life character still fresh in the American imagination. He played the lead role, that of graffiti artist Keith Haring, who died in 1990 of complications of AIDS.

When Des McAnuff went looking for a cast for Jersey Boys, Reichard — who had done an early reading of the show — was on his short list. At first, Reichard auditioned for the Tommy DeVito role, but McAnuff had him switch to keyboardist Gaudio.

Brown also talks to Reichard about his early days as a kid in youth theatre classes in the Cleveland area, his college days at the University of Michigan, and his leap to the Big Apple.

1 Comment »

  1. Hi Danny,
    Congratulations! I hope all the singing we did in second grade helped to get you to this point in your life. :-)
    Proud of you. Always a thrill to see how many of the students from St. Chris turn out.
    Always fun to recall those good old days.
    God be with you every step of the way to more success.
    Millie B.

    Comment by Miss B — February 24, 2011 @ 6:38 pm

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