JB Cast Members Lauren Marshall and Mike Erickson Return to Chicago
October 5th, 2007Mike Danahey of Courier News Online reports that When the Tony Award-winning Jersey Boys settles into the LaSalle Bank Theatre in downtown Chicago for an extended run beginning today, the cast of the biographical musical about Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons will include two performers with roots in the Chicago area–Lauren Marshal and Mike Erickson.
“It’s one of those crazy cosmos stories that we’re both in the show,” said Erickson. “Out in New York, you’d see the same faces at auditions, and I am sure I talked to Lauren before. But we didn’t realize we were both from the area until the first day of rehearsals.”
During introductions, both said that they were from the Chicago area and during a break found out how close their backgrounds were, which was “a bonding experience,” said Marshall.
After college, Erickson moved Chicago, then spent time working as a performer on a Royal Caribbean cruise ship. He returned to Chicago for about three years before landing work in the touring company of Mama Mia!, the show that incorporates the music of ABBA.
Erickson said you can’t really compare that light musical and Jersey Boys, which “will make you laugh like Mama Mia! but also makes you cry. Shows like this don’t come along very often for performers. It’s a chance to make some money but also to work on an incredible product,” he said.
Marshall is but one of four women touring with the show (one is an understudy). Her eight parts include Lorraine, a girlfriend of Valli and one of the vocalists in The Angels.
“It’s a lot of work, but such a blessing to be in this show,” she said.
Wonderful article! I’m so happy that many of the cast members are getting attention. These two rock! It’s true, Mike plays an awesome Billy Dixon but I think my favorite of his characters is the detective who questions Frankie. And of course, he’s a killer drummer! Lauren is amazing as Lorraine! My favorite of her minor roles is the nurse who gives Francine’s belongings to Frankie. She doesn’t say a thing but her acting is unspeakably poignant.
Comment by Lauren — October 5, 2007 @ 1:08 pm
Lauren Marshall,
My wife, daughter, and I saw you in Jersey Boys this Sunday afternoon (24th). We noticed the blurb about you in the Playbill that you went to BW. My wife and I went to BW (’72 & ’70). It’s so rare to see that anyone in Chicagoland has gone to BW. WOW. But what amazed (and pleased) us even more was your comment about the Lord at the end of your blurb. PRAISE THE LORD, someone in the entertainment industry who is a believer and not afraid to say it! Good for you!
The blurb said you were a “Chicagoland native.” Where in Chicagoland did you grow up? And what church did you go to? In reading the Playbill we noticed that Kraig McCreary seems to be a believer by what he says, and perhaps is a member at the Willow Creek Church. Are there other believers in the production?
Hope this email gets through to you. I tried the bw.edu email address and that didn’t work.
In His hands,
Ed Poole (for Leslie, my wife; and Carrie, our daughter whose College of DuPage Theater Appreciation Class brought us here in the first place. In God’s sovereignty, this was no mistake. May the Lord bless you and keep you…..)
Comment by Ed Poole — February 24, 2008 @ 9:52 pm