Ryan Molloy Shares His Thoughts About Playing Valli
March 16th, 2008Ryan Molloy, the West End Frankie Valli in Jersey Boys recently spoke to Whatsonstage.com’s Roger Foss about playing the legendary singer. Here’s a preview of what Ryan discovered about Valli:
I hoped to meet Frankie Valli when I flew to New York for the final audition for Jersey Boys, but he was far too busy gigging all over the place. Even in his seventies, Frankie’s still giving it large. We first came face to face last year when we shook hands at a photo call at the Prince Edward Theatre. I was so nervous. In fact we both checked each other out and I must admit that I thought, “Oh my god, I wonder if these guys really are hard core and still have connections to the Mob. What if I give a bad performance? I might end up in the trunk of a car!â€
I soon discovered that Frankie Valli is a shy, quiet man with a lot of depth. He even gave me his mobile number and told me to call him during rehearsals if there was anything I needed to know about his life. I haven’t called. The kind of things I wondered about are really deep. I thought I might depress him!
I’ve always loved Frankie’s music. When I was growing up in Newcastle, my mum never stopped playing hits like “Sherryâ€, so when I first went through all the songs in the show I even knew rare ones, like “Opus 17 Don’t You Worry ‘Bout Meâ€. But I wasn’t aware of what Frankie went through personally, which is revealed in Jersey Boys – his troubled marriage, one of his daughters dying of a drug overdose and another in an accident, how he had to do crappy gigs just to pay off a million dollar gambling debt run up by Tommy DeVito. Then there were the fights on the road. Yet Frankie always goes into a new situation with so much hope.
Hi,
This is a message for Ryan Malloy.
Ryan, we saw you on “One Night Only” and Peter recognised you straight away from our hair shows!
Peter from Thatch, Whitley bay.
Congratulations on your success, and you are still as handsome as ever!!
We live in the alps in france now, running ski holidays!
What are you like on the slopes? http://www.chaletfiona.com
keep up the good work, and good luck,
Peter and fiona Anderson
Comment by Peter Anderson — September 14, 2008 @ 2:02 pm
I LOVE YOU!!!
.x.o.x.
i think you are amazing and your singing gives me goosebumps! i saw you on weakest link and thought you were amazing! it would be amazing if you could write back to me
lots of love abi xxxxx
Comment by abi — December 31, 2008 @ 4:10 pm
Would love to see the show any plans to come to Scotland in the near future?, if not how long will you be appearing in the London show?
Best Wishes
Nancy T.
Comment by NANCY TRAGIS — January 15, 2009 @ 12:04 pm
This is a message for ryan molloy i would like to say tell you how great you are and how much i love your singing and i love the jersey boys i love your voice its amazing iknow you might be busy but i hope you write back soon
Comment by tiffany richardson — January 20, 2009 @ 7:07 am
You can also leave a message for him on his website
http://www.ryanmolloy.com/. He also has links to his Facebook, MySpace & YouTube pages. Please don’t forget to VOTE for him as well as the other JB nominees for the What’s On Stage Theatregoer’s Awards…link to the ballot is on his site.
Comment by Charly O'Clarit — January 20, 2009 @ 2:39 pm
Hi Ryan,
I was in UK for Holiday and saw the JB 2x. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to see you perform. I was S O Bumped. Although, Jon Lee was also good being an alternate, I could just imagine you as the principal being SUPERB. And truly down for not catching you in the show. (You were on Holiday when I was in UK).
Please do a Show in San Francisco California US.
Comment by carolyn from San Francisco CA — November 21, 2013 @ 7:37 am