Jersey Boys Blog

BroadwayWorld.com’s Eugene Lovendusky has posted an in-depth Q&A session with Jersey Boys national tour’s Bob Gaudio–Erich Bergen! Erich talks about playing Bob Gaudio; playing to enthusiastic audiences every night; his fellow Jersey Boys cast members; his early life; and lots more. Below is a preview to this great interview!

Eugene Lovendusky: First of all, congratulations on being part of such a hit!

Erich Bergen: Is it a hit? Is it a hit now? We can say that? Cool.

Eugene: Yes! [laughs] What’s it been like playing to sold-out audiences night after night?

Erich: You don’t realize you’ve played to that audience until the final moment of the show when the four of us are down-center and the lights are shining from behind us and you can see all the way up to the top of the theatre and see that every seat is filled. Up until then I have to remember, I have to tell myself to play to more than just the front row. As far as what it means to your own well being? It takes such a pressure off! It gives you such an ease that you don’t have to look out into the house every night and see it half-empty. It makes it so much more comfortable to know that there are people loving what you do. I just got back from eating sushi and we were sitting next to a mom and a son, and the son was reading the souvenir program. And I looked at the son and could see something in him… I saw my first Broadway show when I was 10 years-old. I saw Big: The Musical and I remember going out to dinner with my mom afterward and reading the souvenir program like crazy! I struck up this conversation with this ten year-old. It’s extremely gratifying to play with those type of audiences who just love what you do, and keep coming back. There are some audiences who have seen it ten times. It’s ridiculous! Well I shouldn’t say “ridiculous”… I did that! I saw Movin’ Out eight times! It affected me nightly, each time I saw it. I know why people do it. It’s different to be on the other side of it.

Eugene: You’re role Bob Gaudio was instrumental in shaping The Four Seasons; writing hits like “Sherry” and “Walk Like a Man” before age 21. What’s it like to fill the shoes of a living, breathing legend? What freedoms and limitations does that create for you as a performer?

Erich: The fact that he’s living didn’t affect me. Forget living! The guy is involved with the show! Bob is instrumental in writing those songs…he’s instrumental in Jersey Boys. He’s the reason this show happened! He was at rehearsals, he was here during the tech process; he’s just as involved in the creation of this show as he was in the creation of The Four Seasons. What was scary was playing him before him! I didn’t have to worry about playing a living guy in front of an audience…nobody knew who he was other than a name… I mean, can you name all the Osmonds? (Well, some people can) I didn’t have to worry about imitating, getting some of his mannerisms down. I didn’t have to worry about sounding like him. It was creating a character from scratch. But at the same time, I still had to play the guy true to who he is. It was taking pieces of him that were interesting, but not just taking pieces because they were factual. I would take pieces of him – like his smile – because that was interesting. I would take his walk because that was interesting… I was really worried that Bob was going to be a stickler on me. But it was great. He let it absolutely go. He didn’t see himself on stage; he wasn’t worried about getting every little thing right.