'Jersey Boys'—A Record Breaking Musical

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Their catchy songs are instantly recognizable–Sherry, Big Girls Don’t Cry, Walk Like a Man and Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You, but few people knew the story of the Four Seasons, the popular band that rose to fame in the 60s.  Now, more than four decades later, the musical Jersey Boys has finally unveiled the untold story of one of America’s iconic musical groups. With an audience of more than 6 million around the world, four Tony awards, and a Grammy award winning cast recording, the musical has broken several records and it is one of the top 3 weekly grossing shows on Broadway.

Written by Marshall Brickman (Annie Hall, Manhattan) and Rick Elice, Jersey Boys premiered on Broadway in 2005 to both critical and audience acclaim. Based on interviews with the original surviving band members, lead singer Frankie Valli, composer Bob Gaudio, and founding member Tommy DeVito (the fourth member Nick Massi passed away in 2000), the musical portrays the rise to fame of the four working class Italian American boys from New Jersey. It takes a candid look at the ups and downs of their lives, including their romances, family, finances, and even reveals an aspect that few Four Season fans knew at the time.

“Besides the incredible music, there’s a fascinating story that will surprise you – the guys’ time in jail and their connections to the Mob,” said Jeff Madden in an interview with The Epoch Times. Madden plays Frankie Valli in the Toronto production of Jersey Boys.

Under the direction of Tony award winner Des McAnuff, and the choreography of Sergio Trujillo, Jersey Boys captures the intensity and dynamism of the early years in which the singers struggled to make it in the music industry at the time of the Beatles and the Beach Boys. With the falsetto of Frankie Valli and Bob Gaudio’s knack for producing catchy songs, the four guys achieved success in the 60s, holding a record two dozen top 40 hits in that decade.

However, the spring and summer of the first act is followed by the bittersweet fall and winter of the second act, as fame, wealth and their earlier mafia connections take a toll on the member’s personal lives and friendship. “They [The Four Seasons] share a strong bond from growing up together, and then when things go awry personally, it just breaks your heart watching them try to keep the pieces together,” said Madden.

'Jersey Boys'–An International Phenomenon

With five local productions in Las Vegas, Chicago, New York City (Broadway), London and Toronto as well as a North American touring group (Jersey Boys On Tour), and another production set to open in July in Melbourne Australia, Jersey Boys has broken numerous theatrical records, earning more than $ 530 million worldwide. Most recently, the Toronto production has been nominated for seven Dora Mavor Moore theatrical awards in major categories, including for Outstanding Production of a Musical.

Aubrey Dan, whose company Dancap runs the Toronto production explained the appeal of Jersey Boys. “The ‘everyman to Rock Star’ true story angle is unique,” he said. “Most people can hum or identify many of the tunes in the show, many know them all; but even the generation that grew up with Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons doesn’t necessarily know the whole story, and it’s fascinating, compelling, and real.”

Like many audience members, Madden who was nominated for a Dora award along with the other three lead actors earlier this June also admits he was surprised at the number of hits the Four Seasons produced. “That’s one of the great things about Jersey Boys” – as the show goes on you recognize each song, and in many cases you go - ‘Oh, yeah, I forgot they did that one, too’, or ‘Oh, I didn’t know it was the Four Seasons that wrote that song’,” said Madden. “Even for people who never heard of the Four Seasons, there are a bunch of songs you will recognize and love. Their music was everywhere – commercials, TV shows, and movies.”

While much of the appeal of Jersey Boys is its true story, this has brought an added demand on the performers to portray both the characters and the sounds as accurately as possible. “Mr. Valli is still touring and performing all over the world, too, so making sure I maintain the essential elements of his sound is of utmost importance,” said Madden, who had to audition in front of Valli in New York. “That’s it. It was crazy - here I was, pretending to be the guy, when he’s actually sitting six feet in front of me.”

The Toronto production began in August 2008 at the Toronto Centre for the Arts and in February 2009 it launched production with an entirely Canadian cast. The show has been extended several times since its debut and is currently scheduled to run until the end of September.