October 10, 2007

Two Jersey Boys Soon To Come Home to San Diego

October 10th, 2007

Pam Kragen from NCTimes.com has a terrific story Jersey Boys national tour cast members Deven May and Steve Gouveia.

When the touring musical Jersey Boys makes its much-anticipated return to San Diego next week (Oct. 17-Nov. 11), half of the “Joisey” boys will be back on home turf. That’s because two of the four actors starring in the bio-musical as Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons grew up not in the Green State, but in North County.

Deven May, who plays shady band founder Tommy DeVito in the La Jolla Playhouse-born musical, spent his teen years in Vista, honed his chops at the Moonlight Amphitheatre and graduated from Rancho Buena Vista High School. And Steve Gouveia, who plays the quiet, neat-obsessed Nick Massi, was born in San Diego, raised in Ramona’s Highland Valley, graduated from Poway High and is a veteran of the local music and theater scene.

The musical —- which premiered three years ago this month at La Jolla Playhouse before heading to Broadway and winning the Tony Award as Best Musical in 2006 —- opened its U.S. tour with extended runs in San Francisco and L.A., and returns to San Diego after a three-week stop in Arizona. Since it opened in New York’s August Wilson Theatre in November 2005, Jersey Boys has sold $1.1 billion in tickets, been seen by nearly 1 million people and remains, after two years, Broadway’s top-selling show (in terms of capacity and ticket prices), according to industry figures.

Since joining the tour, Deven May said he’s been enjoying the long tour stops and the crowd reactions. He talks frequently by phone with DeVito, who comes to each opening night and has given May his unconditional stamp of approval.

“I was onstage taking my bows and here he comes, this big bull of a man, and he puts his arm around my neck in a headlock and says ‘I’m so f—ing proud of you.’ It was very emotional for me. It had been an intense process and those were big shoes to fill, but when he gave me his New Jersey blessing, it was wonderfully devastating.”

Some might call the meteoric rise of Jersey Boys a lucky break, but nobody feels luckier than Steve Gouveia, the 1987 Poway High grad who turned a slot in the original La Jolla production’s onstage band into a two-year ride on Broadway, and now a starring role in the show’s national tour. It’s a Cinderella story that even Gouveia calls “absurd.”

Gouveia, 38 was “just a musician around town” when McAnuff called him and invited him to play guitar and bass in the musical’s La Jolla Playhouse premiere in 2004. He’d met McAnuff in 2001 when the director was looking for musicians for the Playhouse’s “The Collected Works of Billy the Kid” and they’d become good friends. A onetime rock musician, McAnuff had formed a ragtag group, the Red Dirt Band, that included Gouveia, brothers Ken and Kevin Dow and several others, to perform at various La Jolla Playhouse charity functions and musicals. Jersey Boys was just another gig the Red Dirt Band was booked to play.

“We had no idea it would take off the way it did,” Gouveia said, “but they wrote a great script that was so far beyond anybody’s expectations.”

Having been with Jersey Boys since its inception (more than 800 performances), Gouveia admits that it takes focus and energy to stay fresh and inspired.

Gouveia is committed to the tour through April and then he’s not sure what path he’ll take next. One thing he does know is that there’s not another job with the same kind of rewards.

“It’s like there’s 3,000 people who applaud me every night when I go home from work,” he said. “People are so happy when they see this thing. It makes people so happy, and that makes me happy.”

2 Comments »

  1. Steve Gouveia is the one performer that I have seen in every one of my Jersey Boys shows. I first saw him on Broadway as one of the backup Seasons and then later as Nick Massi in both the SF and Sac tours. I think he’s doing a great job and it’s so nice to see someone move their way up. Congrats and keep up the good work!

    Comment by Dina — October 11, 2007 @ 12:38 am

  2. Steve Gouveia has always been one of my favorite actors. I saw him play Joey Pesci at the Playhouse, Hank Majewski/Joe Long on Broadway, and now Nick Massi on Tour. When Bobby leaves the Broadway production, I think they should consider sending Steve out to replace him.

    Also, when Christian leaves (it won’t be long), Deven should be first in line to fill in for him. He does a phenomenal job as Tommy. That’s my two cents.

    Comment by David Young — October 11, 2007 @ 12:51 pm

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