Jersey Boys–’Destined to Be’ a Success!
September 27th, 2011Ken Glickman has a marvelous piece with thoughts from JERSEY BOYS co-writer Rick Elice and JB national tour’s ‘Frankie Valli,’ Joseph Leo Bwarie! Check out a preview:
When Rick Elice first began to write the book (or spoken play) for the musical “Jersey Boys,” he and co-writer Marshall Brickman thought they had a big problem.The music was all in place – the hit tunes of the Four Seasons like “Sherry,” “Walk Like a Man,” “Short Shorts” and others – but there wasn’t a real story.
“We sat down with Frankie Valli and Bob Guadio – two of the original Four Seasons – and we asked the question, ‘What was it like to live in New Jersey in the ’60s?’ and what we got was an unbelievable story of jail time, the mob, love, angst. Everything to make a great play.”
Elice remembers, “We found out that the first LP that Des McAnuff ever bought was ‘Sherry and 11 other hits’ – he’s been a lifelong Four Seasons fan. This whole thing was destined to be.”
Joseph Leo Bwarie (as in “dairy”) has one comment for his four years of touring as Frankie Valli in “Jersey Boys.” “It’s hard work!” he bellowed over the phone.
“I sing 27 songs in the show, and in the two-and-a-half-hour run time, I am on the stage for all but nine minutes, where I get to change clothes. And it’s not just singing and acting. The dancing is very vigorous, and I age from 16 to 60.”
Visit LSJ.com to read the entire article.
