August 21, 2010

Thank You and Goodbye to Jersey Boys Toronto–Share Your JB TO Memories!

August 21st, 2010

As we all know, JERSEY BOYS Toronto will end its phenomenal run tomorrow, August 22, 2010 at the Toronto Centre for the Arts. At its closing, the Dora Award-winning, critically acclaimed megahit was seen by over one million customers in Toronto!

Toronto has always been one of my favorite places in the world, but our visit to JERSEY BOYS TO in late May of this year was a visit like no other, thanks to the cast, the crew, and three phenomenal times seeing the show! As the show takes its final bow on Sunday, we wanted to send our appreciation to publicist Amy Orfanakos of Flip Publicity for arranging amazing tickets for our visit and the fabulous JBB EXCLUSIVE interviews throughout the run; the extraordinarily talented cast and crew for putting on such a spectacular show; and Dancap founder and president Aubrey Dan for his warm welcome at the stage door!

So many JB TO memories! The stars were definitely in alignment–meeting our fellow fans Frances Fong-Lee, Gary Neuberg, and Nicola Hengst–who made the experience even more exciting; the multitalented performances each and every night, including the up close & personal experience in RUSH seats during our final evening; so many welcomes from the cast at the stage door, including ALL FOUR leading dashing JERSEY BOYS (Michael Lomenda, Jeff Madden, Dan Sullivan, and Quinn VanAntwerp) coming to meet us and posing for photos at once (Is that style or what?); and Friday night’s behind the scenes adventure with Dan and Quinn as our most marvelous tour guides!

We wish this fabulous cast, the fantastic band, the hard-working crew, the creative team, and everyone associated with JB TO all the best in their future endeavors and thank you ALL for some of the most memorable on-stage and off-stage experiences for Jersey Boys Blog!

We would love for Jersey Boys Blog readers to share your JERSEY BOYS Toronto memories! Anything you’d like to share–your experiences at the theatre, the performances, your well wishes to the cast and crew, etc. Please leave your comments below–we’d love to hear from you!

11 Comments »

  1. Frances, Howard, Audrey, Linda S. and I will be there to show our love for this incredible cast. The memory will be etched in our hearts and minds forever. Thanks for the memories, Toronto!

    Comment by Gary — August 21, 2010 @ 8:41 pm

  2. I went to Jersey Boys at the beginning of the Toronto run. It was a dark time for me as someone very close to me had passed away. But for those 2 1/2 hours watching JB I was in another element – Happy and didn’t once think about all I was dealing with. After that, I would go see JB every time I was feeling low and it cheered me up every single time. Although very happy for the experiences, I will be sad to see it finish. I have a ticket for the final curtain call & that will be my 25th time of seeing the Toronto cast. Thank you so much for all you did for me. You helped me through a very difficult 18 months. Seeing JB, indeed, were some of the happiest moments for me. Good luck to the cast in all you do in the future. Amazing talent!!!!

    Comment by Sharon M — August 22, 2010 @ 11:30 am

  3. I was on a whirlwind minitrip with my sister and friend from Quebec city to old Montreal to Toronto in four days and the best part of our trip was seeing Jersey Boys. I am a huge Four Seasons fan [always have been] and was not aware of their background history. It was hugely emotional bringing tears to my eyes. The music was phenomenal..I believed that I was actually listening to the Original Four Seasons. When something is that good, the time watching it seems to fly by so quickly and my only regret is that I won’t have the opportunity to see it again. Every single person in the entire production was so believable, so entertaining and all I can say is that I enjoyed it so much that I thought my heart was going to explode. It left me feeling fantastic. And the best thing is that I bought a tee shirt and had it signed by three members of the cast. Something to remember it by.

    Comment by Cathy Andersen — August 22, 2010 @ 12:40 pm

  4. My year of trips to Jersey Boys has been so chock full of brilliant moments and fantastic memories there is not enough room here to recount them all. I am bereft that they are closing tonight. If you want to hear a great story about how Jersey Boys changed my life, then call me up sometime. May be over drinks, I’ll tell you the story of how four blue collar guys rocked my world!

    Comment by Nicola — August 22, 2010 @ 1:04 pm

  5. I saw Jersey Boys for the first time in July/09 and smiled all the way through the show. I’ve seen it three times since then and enjoyed it just as much each time. This fantastic cast made a great production even better. Best of luck to all of them!

    Comment by Ann — August 22, 2010 @ 3:22 pm

  6. Two years ago, when the tour settled into the TCA for (I think) a ten-week stint, we all went up for the opening, because it was a big deal for Des and Sergio to have the show in their own backyard. In fact, Frankie and I joined them a couple of months before that for a day of press. We knew then how special everyone at DanCap and TCA were. What we couldn’t have dreamed was how much the city would take Jersey Boys – all of them, and the girls, too! – to their hearts, and that ten weeks would become two years. The company loved being in Toronto and playing that glorious theater. They’re such a super-talented group, too – backstage and onstage. Thanks to them, and to all the fans who gave them so much love!!

    Comment by Rick Elice — August 23, 2010 @ 7:08 am

  7. My sister saw the whole show for a month and a half
    every night Monday to Saturday.. so Thanks for a
    fabulous show and a great run….Wonder what the
    characters are doing next..in real life..

    Comment by M tanna — August 23, 2010 @ 1:25 pm

  8. Wow, how great was last night in Toronto?
    Right from the opening number the crowd was saying “Thank You” to the unbelievably talented cast and crew.
    All I can say is that I saw the show around 11 times in the past 2 years and I am going to miss having it in Toronto.
    I am going to have to find a new therapist because mine just left town today.
    Anytime I wanted to have a good time and forget about the stresses of our daily lives there was the Jersey Boys, now that’s gone too. Well all good things must end but I was hoping this one wouldn’t.
    It has given my wife and I so my pleasure over the run that I just wanted to say Thanks to all and good luck in your future endeavours whatever they might be. You people are truly the BEST!!!!!!!!

    Comment by Steve — August 23, 2010 @ 4:23 pm

  9. M tanna, your sister is one heck of a Jersey Boys fan!! That’s impressive.

    Comment by Linda — August 23, 2010 @ 10:12 pm

  10. It was such a wonderful, wonderful night. Right from the very beginning, seeing Dan Sullivan in a restaurant, and introducing myself, “Hi Dan. I’m Howard Tucker…” Dan with a big smile, “Yes, Howard. I know who you are.” I didn’t ask whether he reads the Blog or someone gave him an accurate description of me. Actually, all four “Boys” were at the Baton Rouge Restaurant and graciously acknowledged my wonderful Jersey Boys friends, co-Bloggers, and me.

    The show was wonderful. All four performers were sensational, and really gave 100%. Sort of simliar to Christian Hoff, seeing the transition from the friendly, humble Dan Sullivan into the bossy, obnoxious Tommy DeVito was amazing.

    I have been going to Broadway shows for nearly 50 years and attended many closing nites (OK, some didn’t know it at the time) and have never, ever seen an ovation like this. The “crowd went wild”…and I mean wild, until the Boys came out for a curtain call, in various stages of undress…(I’ll leave that to the imagination!)

    All came to the stage door, and made it a magnificent evening that I was able to share with some wonderful old Jersey Boys friends and some great new ones. Special thanks goes to Frances Fong-Lee for making the arrangements and to Audrey Rockman for being my driver from New Jersey to Toronto. Finally, both times we crossed the border, the agents passed us through quickly as we started peppering them with questions about whether they’d seen the show. One seemed to say yes (just to move us along. I think), and the other waved us on, not wanting to start with Audrey and her probing interrogation!

    This was the experience of a lifetime. Thanks to everyone!

    Comment by Howard — August 24, 2010 @ 11:49 pm

  11. My brothers & sisters saw JB in May ’10. My sister and I went back for a second time and were fortunate to meet all four ‘Jersey Boys’ at the stage door where they very graciously autographed our coffee table books and spent time chatting with us.
    Being fans of the original Four Seasons, we returned for a third show with our children and had a fabulous time! We’re fortunate enough to see the last two shows on the 22nd and words cannot describe the feeling that was in that theatre! Such appreciation from the fans and such gratitude from the Cast. What a truly rewarding experience each show was. Thank you! Thank you! Hope you guys come to the Drayton or St Jacobs theatre sometime soon! You are all amazing. Thank you for a terrific summer! I can’t stop playing the CD! Any chance of the Toronto show making it to DVD????

    Comment by Pam — August 26, 2010 @ 2:56 pm

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