The Success of Jersey Boys
November 9th, 2007Paul Hogins of the Orange County Register has an in-depth story about the success of Jersey Boys that includes interviews with Frankie Valli, Bob Gaudio, Des McAnuff, and Erich Bergen.
Valli had only one request about the show, which aimed to tell the story of the rise and fall of his legendary pop group, The Four Seasons. He didn’t want his life’s work turned into another Mamma Mia.
“There were a lot of songs that could have very easily gone into this show, but then it would have become a jukebox musical, and I didn’t want that,” Valli said. “I think it’s a very dramatic piece that deals with the lives of these four guys who were in the music business. Each of the (songs) that were used is weaved into what is happening on stage. In other words, the story wasn’t written around the music – vice versa.”
Gaudio and Valli are still pinching themselves over the show’s success. After many years of working unsuccessfully on the project with other producers and creative teams, the show that finally took shape exceeded their wildest dreams of success.
“When we saw it for the first time we turned to each other and said, ‘Wow!’, Gaudio recalled. “I said, ‘Can you believe it? You and I are going to be on Broadway!’”
Read the entire story on OCRegister.com.
