Bob Gaudio’s Granddaughter & JB National Tour Cast Members at Young Playwrights’ Theater Fundraiser
November 12th, 2009
Joseph Leo Bwarie (Frankie Valli) showing off his dessert with Window’s Brianna D’Amico, Jersey Girl Denise Payne, Window’s Andrew Gerstel, Jersey Girl Kara Tremel, and Jersey Boys Steve Gouveia (Nick Massi) and Courter Simmons (Joe Pesci) (Photo credit: Bisnow.com
The Washington Times Green & Glover column has a write-up on “Bobby’s Girl”–who happens to be Bob Gaudio’s first granddaughter Brianna D’Amico!
The cast of “Jersey Boys,” the Tony Award-winning musical at the National Theatre through Dec. 12, only gets one night off a week, so why would some of them trek to suburban Virginia on a Monday evening for a small dinner party?
Because the hostess is the grandbaby of a real Jersey Boy, that’s why.
Brianna D’Amico, a 2008 graduate of Marymount University and a marketing assistant for the local Windows Catering, is the first granddaughter of Bob Gaudio, a member of the famed 1960s pop group the Four Seasons and one of the writers and producers of the musical. The musical dramatizes his friendship with lead singer Frankie Valli and band mates Tommy DeVito and Nick Massi and their ascent from humble Jersey beginnings to the top of the charts.
Mr. Gaudio, who asked a young Brianna to call him “Bobby” when she was growing up, is credited with penning – alone or with Bob Crewe – some of the Seasons’ biggest hits, including “Walk Like a Man,” “Sherry” and “Rag Doll.”
When Miss D’Amico, who now refers to Mr. Gaudio as “Grandpa,” discovered that the musical was coming to Washington, she cajoled her boss, Windows’ Executive Vice President Andrew Gerstel, into hosting a special soiree with the cast to benefit a local charity.
She tells us she turned to her grandfather for help, but he gave her some of the straight talk for which the Garden State is known.
“He doubted that any of the cast would come on their day off,” she says.
But surprise! At Monday night’s dinner, we saw Joseph Leo Bwarie, who plays Frankie Valli; Steve Gouveia, who portrays the band’s only deceased member, Nick Massi; and Courter Simmons, whose character is actor Joe Pesci. “Jersey Girls” Denise Payne and Kara Tremel also were in attendance.
Although Mr. Gaudio, who turns 67 next week, was unable to make it, Miss D’Amico said the soiree raised more than $2,000 for the Young Playwrights’ Theater and that her next project is getting gramps to come to Washington to lobby for fellow recording artists and visit young music students.
