On Wednesday night, September 14, Atlantis Theatrical Entertainment Group (ATEG) officially announced the Manila production of the Tony, Olivier, and Grammy Award-winning musical "JERSEY BOYS," the biographical musical based on the story of the legendary American doo-wop group Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons.
Leading the stellar cast are:
Acoustic balladeer Nyoy Volante in the coveted role of Frankie Valli, lead vocalist of the Four Seasons
Asian Pop Superstar Christian Bautista in the role of Bob Gaudio, singer-songwriter and keyboardist
"The Voice" finalist Nino Alejandro in the role of Nick Massi,
Bass player and singer-actor Markki Stroem in the role of Tommy DeVito, a founding member of the band
Directed by Bobby Garcia, "Jersey Boys," features the music by Bob Gaudio, lyrics by Bob Crewe, the Four Seasons real-life record producer, and book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice.
"Jersey Boys" tells the story of the Four Seasons' formation, meteoric rise and descent via four symbolic seasons told from the different and often contrasting points of view of the band members.
Garcia said,"We went through a long audition process with a different combination of boys. What we have now is the best combination we heard and once we begin rehearsals and they master the Four Seasons signature four-part harmonies, I think their sound will be quite thrilling.
"With his immense charm and excellent singing voice, Christian brings that confident bravado that Bob Gaudio has; Nino has an amazing singing voice as well, and he is such an instinctive actor, while Markki is a great singer, too, a sensitive actor, and an extremely hardworking performer. He's been bugging the office daily for the script when he was offered the role of Tommy DeVito because he said he needed to get started working on it - that is how devoted and committed he is."
"Jersey Boys" is also an ideal tribute to 40-year- friendship of Frankie, Bob, Nick, and Tommy.
As a singing group, originally called the Varietones, they went from singing on street corners in the various housing projects in Northern New Jersey to singing on national television as their songs, featuring Frankie Valli's trademark three-octave range and falsetto and a distinctive doo-wop sound, charted 24 Top-30 hits from 1962 to 1968. Their most popular songs include "Big Girls Don't Cry," "Sherry," "Walk Like A Man," "Working My Way Back to You," "Can't Take My Eyes Off You," "My Eyes Adored You," and "December 1963 (Oh What a Night).
"Nyoy has that crazy high falsetto and I think it is perfect for the role of Frankie Valli. I just can't wait to hear him sing these songs," said Garcia. "Jersey Boys is such a well-crafted biographic musical. It manages to both be a celebration of the unforgettable music of the Four Seasons and at the same time a gritty but heartfelt true-to- life tale of friendship, family, and stardom. Like any good musical, it has a fantastic story and bringing that story to life while at the same time honoring the legends who created the music is the challenge - it is also what excites me about the show, apart from our truly first-rate cast."
Joining Nyoy, Christian, Nino and Markki in this production are Jamie Wilson, Bibo Reyes, Nelsito Gomez, Mikkie Bradshaw-Volante, Yanah Laurel, Giannina Ocampo-Van Hoven , Altair Alonso, Steven Conde, Rhenwyn Gabalonzo, Emeline Carmela Guinid, Kendrick Ibasco, Gab Medina, and Timmy Pavino.
JERSEY BOYS run at the Meralco Theatre on the weekends from September 23 until October 16. Tickets are now on sale at www.TicketWorld.com.ph or call Ten Bridges Media Corp. (632) 650 5144
Now in its 11th year on Broadway, "Jersey Boys" officially opened on Broadway at the August Wilson Theatre on November 6, 2005. In 2006, the show won the Tony Award for Best Musical, Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical (John Lloyd Young, who also played the role of Frankie Valli in the movie adaptation in 2014), Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical (Christian Hoff), and Best Lighting Design of a Musical (Howell Binkley). It also won Best New Musical at the 2008 Laurence Olivier Awards in London and Best Musical Show Album at the 2007 Grammy Awards. As of September 22, 2015, after setting a record of at least 4,093 performances, "Jersey Boys" has surpassed "Miss Saigon" as the 12 th longest-running show in Broadway history.
To date, the show has been seen by more than 23 million people worldwide and is currently playing in New York, Las Vegas, London, and in numerous cities across North America and the U.K. In Asia, an international touring production, starring an all-South African cast, played Singapore, South Korea, and Malaysia from November 2012 to April 2014.
Considered as America's most popular singing group before The Beatles, Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, alongside the Beach Boys, Motown, and Memphis soul, fought their way to the top of the music charts even during the phenomenal "Beatlemania," The Rolling Stones, and British Invasion in the mid-60s. In 1990, the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for selling over 100 million records worldwide.
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