November 1, 2010

Bob Gaudio Celebrates Five Years of Jersey Boys Broadway!

November 1st, 2010

Bob Gaudio
Bob Gaudio (Photo Credit: J.T. Macmillan Photography)

Jim Bessman has terrific in-depth interview with original Jersey Boy Bob Gaudio who will be back in New York this week when JERSEY BOYS celebrates its fifth Broadway anniversary on November 6th. Here’s a preview:

“It really doesn’t seem like five years–but it’s been six years since we started up in La Jolla, so in my mind it’s all even more unlikely,” says Gaudio, who co-founded the Four Seasons and co-wrote so many of the fabled group’s classic 1960s hits.

Jersey Boys did in fact premiere in 2004 at the La Jolla Playhouse. The musical went on to win Tony, Olivier and Grammy awards and on Oct. 13 became the longest running show in the 85-year history of Broadway’s August Wilson Theatre after 2,037 performances. It remains among Broadway’s top-selling musicals and has been seen by over 7.4 million people globally, grossing over $852 million worldwide as of June, 2010. It’s currently playing in New York, Las Vegas, London, Sidney and across the U.S. on a national tour.

“I’s obviously been a thrill, and for it to have succeeded in this magnitude was totally unexpected,” says Gaudio.

Indeed, on the eve of Jersey Boys’ Broadway opening, Gaudio expressed concern that the show might go the way of Good Vibrations and Lennon, the respective Beach Boys and John Lennon musical bios that met with lackluster receptions on Broadway. Instead, he returns to Broadway in triumph, to participate in a series of anniversary events.

“One of the biggest is going to be the lighting of the Empire State Building in Jersey Boys colors!” exclaims Gaudio. That will take place Nov. 5 when the tower is lit from bottom to top in white, red and yellow.

Read the full interview on Examiner.com.

1 Comment »

  1. Definitely a beholding site for the Jersey Boys on Broadway! White, Red, and Yellow The hues of nature upon the Big Apple!!! Very Deserved in the NYC sky!! Joni Relyea

    Comment by joni relyea — November 7, 2010 @ 3:33 pm

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