July 13, 2012

Production Supervisor Richard Hester’s Amazing Jersey Boys Journey!

July 13th, 2012

Richard Hester
Richard Hester in rehearsal with cast members of Jersey Boys (Photo Credit: Broadway.com)

JERSEY BOYS production supervisor Richard Hester has been with JERSEY BOYS since its very beginning at La Jolla Playhouse! Today, Hester is in charge of keeping the musical running smoothly all over the globe. His job responsibilities include arranging the casting of new actors, in addition to scheduling rehearsals & launches of international versions of the production. On Broadway.com, Hester provides a marvelous insider’s view of JERSEY BOYS! Check out a preview below:

When I was first approached to production stage manage the world premiere of Jersey Boys, my response was less than favorable. At the time when Jersey Boys was in development, a whole slew of so-called jukebox musicals had opened in New York and they were all terrible and had gone away very quickly. This just seemed like another one. At the time, there was no script and I dimly remembered some of the songs of the Four Seasons. However, I was told that Des McAnuff was directing it and he was someone I had always wanted to work with. The production was also to be mounted at the La Jolla Playhouse in California. The only reason I took Jersey Boys was because it was basically going to be a three-month vacation by the beach.

The first day of rehearsal, we were all given the script, which we had never seen. I think they finished Xeroxing it about 10 minutes before the read through started. From the second we began, we knew the show was special. Before that, anyone who claims to have thought it was a good idea is lying. Des, writers Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice, and Bob Gaudio and Frankie Valli all had a vision of what the show was going to be; none of the rest of us did. After that first read through, we lived, breathed and ate Jersey Boys and never faltered in believing in the show.

Visit Broadway.com to read more of Richard Hester’s amazing JERSEY BOYS journey.

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