Joseph Leo Bwarie Chats with ‘The Reader’ in Omaha!
September 7th, 2011Warren Francke has a terrific interview with the “Frankie Valli” of the JERSEY BOYS national tour company–Joseph Leo Bwarie! Here’s a preview of the interview:
And you’ll see him on stage at the Orpheum for all but nine minutes of the two-and-a-half hour show. “There’s only one time that I’m off stage and don’t have a costume change.â€
He looks at the show as an athletic event. “We’re really athletes on stage, running an obstacle course, a marathon.â€
If you’re good at math, that means singing 162 songs each week, performing all 27 six times, with an alternate subbing for two shows weekly. He gets lost in Frankie, “and even my own relatives say, ‘We forget it’s you, Joey.’â€
The touring show brings his widespread family closer together as cousins around the country see him perform. He’s the only entertainer in his immediate family, which includes a younger brother and sister, his mom (a second-grade teacher) and his father, (a pioneer in creating specialty gift baskets). He wasn’t completely escaping them in Boston because both parents had relatives nearby.
Omaha becomes the 51st city in his more than three years touring with Jersey Boys. And it’s not only his first time here, but “I’ve never ever been in Nebraska.â€
Visit TheReader.com to read the full interview.
