Gritty Jersey Boys Begins Run at Milwaukee’s Marcus Center on Wednesday!
July 18th, 2011
Quinn VanAntwerp, Joseph Leo Bwarie, Matt Bailey, Steve Gouveia and the Company of Jersey Boys (Photo Credit: Joan Marcus)
With the JERSEY BOYS national tour beginning a Milwaukee run of the musical Wednesday through Aug. 14, Jim Higgins of the Journal Sentinel has a feature story that includes an interview with legendary Bob Gaudio. Here’s a sneak peek:
When keyboardist-songwriter Bob Gaudio and singer Frankie Valli talked with possible collaborators about a musical based on the songs of the Four Seasons, they considered the success of another popular band’s musical. Did they want to make a PG musical the way ABBA did with “Mamma Mia!,” a huge success?In the end, they did not go the ABBA route, opting for a grittier story, “warts and all,” Gaudio said. Both theatergoers and critics have validated that decision: “Jersey Boys” won the 2006 Tony Award for best musical and continues to be a popular hit.
As a musical, “Jersey Boys” effectively contrasts the romantic vulnerability of the group’s music, including “Sherry,” “Walk Like a Man,” “Dawn (Go Away)” and “Rag Doll,” with their rough early years, including some prison time and threats from a loan shark.
In a telephone interview, Gaudio said the musical’s success was “a tribute to who it was crafted” by the creative team, which included director Des McAnuff and writers Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice.
During their peak popularity in the ’60s, group members did everything they could to hide their troubles from the public, Gaudio said. That impulse might have been partly a recognition of the kind of pop music they made: “We were not the Rolling Stones,” Gaudio said.
As a songwriter, Gaudio found his perfect vehicle in Valli, whose powerful falsetto drove the group’s hits. The related scene in “Jersey Boys” of Gaudio hearing Valli sing for the first time describes it as it really happened, the songwriter said.
“An epiphany, a eureka,” he said. “It was stunning to me. I felt (as a songwriter) if I messed this up, it was my own fault.”
Visit JSOnline.com to read the full story.
