The Secrets Behind JB’s Success from Rick Elice
January 8th, 2007With the national tour of Jersey Boys settling in for what appears to be a nice, long run at San Francisco’s Curran Theatre, InsideBayArea.com’s theatre critkc Chad Jones was curious as to how the story of the Four Seasons turned into such an electrifying show.
On Jones’ Theater Dogs blog, he talks about a lunch meeting he had a while back with Rick Elice, co-author of Jersey Boys to find out the secrets behind Jersey Boys’ success. Here’s a preview to the interview:
Jones: How is it that Jersey Boys became your first collaboration (with Marshall Brickman)?
Elice: I had worked in advertising for 18 years, and a former client of mine called me about doing a show based on the Four Seasons catalogue. Mamma Mia! was new-ish at the time, and I said, “Someone’s already done this.†But I was encouraged to meet with the guys involved, so I called Marshall and said, “How’d you like to work on this Four Seasons thing?†He said: “Great. I love Vivaldi.â€
Jones: So how did you shape the show?
Elice: There was so little written about the Four Seasons, but one article was key: a 1987 Time magazine business article about Frankie and Bob’s handshake guaranteeing each other a 50-50 split of whatever they make for life. That was their recognition that their whole was greater than the sum of their parts. Since he was 20, Bob had an internal business gyroscope. He’s a naturally talented businessman and composer. And Frankie has a remarkable four-octave range. They knew they needed each other to get what they wanted, and their business deal holds true to this day.
That article about the handshake was inspirational in making this relationship the core of the show. We knew the story would be non-traditional because there are no women as primary characters. Primary relationship with these guys was each other.
Jones: Nick Massi had passed away by this time, but did you seek out Tommy DeVito in Las Vegas?
Elice: We did, and he said, “Don’t listen to Bob and Frankie.†I’ll tell you what really happened.
Read the entire interview on the Theater Dogs blog.
What a great read… although these interviews always leave me pondering what wasn’t revealed. Elice hints at the story behind the story when he talks about going to Tommy after that first lunch and referring to the arguments with Frankie & Bob about what makes a great story- for theater.
I appreciate the significance Rick credits to the JB audiences- there is a relationship which this show has with the audience that’s an integral part of the whole success package. I have to agree with Rick- how one feels after the show is ‘the most precious… thing’ about Jersey Boys.
Comment by Audrey — January 10, 2007 @ 7:47 pm