Playing Frankie Valli: A Life-Changing Experience for Christopher Kale Jones
March 23rd, 2008Playbill.com’s Sheryl Flatow has a marvelous profile on Christopher Kale Jones, who has been wowing! audiences as Frankie Valli in the national tour of Jersey Boys since it began in December 2006.
Here is a sample of the kinds of reviews Christopher Kale Jones has received for his portrayal of Frankie Valli in the first national tour of the mega-hit Jersey Boys: “Embodies a youthful Frankie Valli with charm, focus, naiveté and a killer voice.” “Easily brings down the house.” “Replicating Valli’s incredible vocal range, Jones deserves each ovation.”
“It’s amazing,” he says. “There’s a house full of people screaming and clapping, which is an incredible rush. I love it and I still feed off it. When we opened in San Francisco, we walked offstage and looked at each other and said, ‘Can you believe that? And we get to experience it every night.’ Even after all this time, there are still pinch-me moments in the show where we are taken aback by the response.”
Playing Frankie Valli has been a life-changing experience for Jones, personally and professionally. “It gave me the financial freedom to get married,” he says, which he did in October. “And I know that having this role on my résumé will open doors that might have been closed to me before. Similar to Frankie, I’m always looking forward to what’s around the corner. I’m super excited to be doing the show now and I’m glad to do it for a long time. But I know at some point I’ll do something new and exciting, and I can’t imagine what it will be like. I can’t imagine topping this. The responses that we get are unheard of in theatre. So I think my next job will be a letdown, no matter how rewarding it is.”
Chris, I think all of us who are privileged to know you are thrilled for your well-deserved success. As far as not topping playing Frankie, you’ll always be known for this great role, as Barbra Streisand is still known as Fanny Brice (“Funny Girl”) and Ethel Merman was always remembered as Mama Rose Hovick (“Gypsy”)–yet both went on to have very rewarding careers. The first great success may always be the sweetest, Chris, but I believe you have an awesome career ahead.
Comment by Howard Tucker — March 23, 2008 @ 10:29 pm