Jersey Boys National Tour Heads to Motor City!
December 12th, 2009
Andrea Blum of The News Herald has a preview of JERSEY BOYS, the touring production will call Detroit’s Fisher Theatre home beginning Thursday through January 23.
The blue-collar lives of Frankie Valli, Bob Gaudio, Tommy DeVito and Nick Massi and their meteoric rise to fame are explored throughout the show.
Michigan native Eric Gutman has spent the past three years living the life of a Jersey boy.
On leave from the Chicago company, he’ll return to Detroit for a turn as mobster Norm Waxman — bringing the total number of characters he’s portrayed in the show to six.
“He’s kind of the bad guy who represents a larger spectrum of the mob that the guitarist Tommy got involved with,†Gutman said. “It’s a small part in the show but integral to what happened.â€
During his time with the touring and Broadway casts, Gutman also has been on stage as Four Seasons members Gaudio, Massi and DeVito, along with record producer Bob Crewe.
“It’s a lot of fun playing every single role,†he said. “They’re written so well you can’t have a bad time.â€
What makes the show work so well, Gutman said, is interspersing the ups and downs of the group’s professional struggles with true-life drama straight out of “The Sopranos†— jail time, loan sharks, sex and drugs.
“I think the show was built around the music and that’s what originally brings people in,†he said.
“But they leave amazed by the true story of what really happened.â€
Book writers Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice originally set out to fashion a story around the music, but soon changed their minds when they heard the group’s real-life drama.
“A few weeks into interviews and hearing the stories, they said they couldn’t write a story better than what happened,†Gutman said.
Read the full interview with Eric Gutman on TheNewsHerald.com.
Today is December 16 , 2009 and my baby Kara Tremel will be in Detroit with the National Tour. She will be preforming the part of Mary and celebrating her birthday opening night in a show that is amazing enjoy. Detroit, this is a show you can see over and over and over again and never get tired. All you want to do is stand up, dance, and sing along. The talent in this show is unbelievable. If you have to give someone something, give them a ticket to this show and they will never forget you. Spend your Christmas with the Jersey Boys’ show. (Hi Kara, Happy Birthday…Love you and miss you ….. Mom)
Comment by Margaret Neff — December 16, 2009 @ 10:10 pm