What’ll we do without the four goombahs of “Jersey Boys” lighting up Broadway with their doo-wop melodies and falsetto trills on such hits as “Big Girls Don’t Cry,” “Oh, What a Night,” “Sherry,” and Walk Like A Man”? The producers announced recently that the show would close on January 15, 2017, after 4,672 performances, making it the 12th longest-running Broadway musical. Beginning October 18th, Mark Ballas of “Dancing with the Stars” will be the last in a long line of actors playing lead singer Frankie Valli.“Jersey Boys” was scarcely a slam dunk when it opened in the Fall of 2005. The blue-collar story of the fall and rise and fall again of a 1960s pop group was an unlikely candidate to capture theatrical stardust. The so-called “jukebox musical,” was in disrepute following the respective crash-and-burn fates of “All Shook Up” (Elvis Presley catalogue), “Lennon,” and “Good Vibrations” (The Beach Boys). Frankie Valli was then playing Las Vegas lounges and the show’s director Des McAnuff was still licking his wounds from the flop of “Dracula, the Musical.”The transfusion for both their careers came about when producer Michael David, of Dodgers Theatricals, assembled a magical collaboration that included McAnuff, choreographer Sergio Trujillo and the writers Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice. The latter duo was able to craft a sexy book, cleverly tinting a typical rags-to-riches story with the patina of Jersey mob connections. The synchronicity could not have been more perfect: HBO’s “The Sopranos,” also set in New Jersey, was then sweeping the country.The kinetic staging of McAnuff and Trujillo brought out the juice in the pop catalogue, setting the numbers against Michael Clark’s comic book projections inspired by Roy Lichtenstein. Following a successful tryout at the La Jolla Playhouse, “Jersey Boys” snuck onto Broadway with a paltry advance. But word-of-mouth during previews was strong and the show opened to favorable notices. By the time the Tony Awards came around, the show received eight nominations and went home with four wins. Among the winners were two of the original cast members—John Lloyd Young, as Frankie Valli, and Christian Hoff, as Tommy DeVito.In a side note, the role of Valli had been created at La Jolla by David Norona, who won raves for his performance. But he chose to remain with his young family when the show transferred to Broadway.Here are some other distinctions “Jersey Boys” picked up along the way:In addition to the Four Tonys, “Jersey Boys” also won London’s Olivier Award following the show’s opening at the Prince Edward Theatre in February of 2008. It later transferred to the Piccadilly Theatre where it is still running. The original Broadway cast album, produced by Bob Gaudio, a member of The Four Seasons, won the Grammy Award and was later certified platinum.The show has set box-office records 30 times at the August Wilson Theatre, where it has been in residence since it began previews on October 4, 2005. The theater was then known as the Virginia but 12 days after the show started, it was officially re-christened the August Wilson, named for the late African-American playwright.“Jersey Boys” has grossed more than $2 billion worldwide, playing in front of 24 million people in 162 cities, including two U.S. national tours. It has been translated in Korean, Dutch, and Swedish, among others. In Las Vegas, the Palazzo Hotel built the Jersey Boys Theatre to house its nearly four-year-run which began in May of 2008. In March of 2012, it transferred to the Paris Las Vegas, where it will end its run on September 18 of this year.The film rights to “Jersey Boys” were sold to Graham King Films in 2010 for what was described as a “substantial seven figure deal.” In 2013, Clint Eastwood signed on as director and John Lloyd Young was cast to reprise his Tony-winning role in the movie. The film was released in 2014 to mixed reviews and disappointing ticket sales, grossing a worldwide total of $67.5 million on a budget of $40 million.When Brickman and Elice were writing the book for the musical, they received a memorable call. The family of the late mobster Gyp DeCarlo, who figures in the show, was inquiring whether or not their beloved relative would be treated respectfully. The writers assured them that he would be. And he was. At the 2007 Emmy Awards the cast of the Chicago company of “Jersey Boys” appeared in a tribute to HBO’s “The Sopranos.”With the closing of “Jersey Boys” on Broadway, two North Jersey legends will be history.
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