February 27, 2012

Jersey Boys Second Natl Tour Heads to Protors; Check Out Times Union Preview!

February 27th, 2012

The JERSEY BOYS second national tour heads to Proctors from this Tuesday Feb. 28 through March 18 and Michael Eck has an exciting preview with reflections from co-librettist Rick Elice and Brandon Andrus, who plays Nick Massi. Here’s a sneak peek:

Philadelphian Brandon Andrus, 32, plays Nick Massi, in essence the No. 4 man on the Four Seasons totem pole, below Valli, Gaudio, guitarist Tommy DeVito and even, perhaps “Fifth Season” Bob Crewe, who produced the band and wrote lyrics for Gaudio’s gorgeous melodies.

“Bob Gaudio was kind enough to say to me that I really capture Nick,” says Andrus.

Elice says part of the show’s runaway success is that it is shaped a little differently than most jukebox musicals. He and Brickman largely avoided the trap of trying to have a scene build up to a musical payoff. Instead, most of the songs are delivered presentationally.

“That was (director) Des McAnuff’s idea, to have the songs exist in a context where people would naturally be performing — in the recording studio, in a New Jersey hole-in-the-wall or at Yankee Stadium. The challenge then was to fill the story in around that, and to use those songs as landmarks along the way.”

Visit TimesUnion.com to read the full story.

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