- By Ken Werther
- Photo Courtesy of Warner Bros.
A little history — in the early 2000s, Bob Gaudio, an original member of The Four Seasons, sought to make a musical from the discography of the legendary rock ‘n roll band. Director Des McAnuff (then-artistic director of the La Jolla Playhouse) was hired along with writers Rick Elice and Marshall Brickman. Instead of repurposing the Four Seasons songs for an independent story (the way Abba did with Mamma Mia!), Brickman suggested creating a show about the band’s history. He has said that he was drawn to the project because “it’s a classic American story. It’s rags to riches, and back to rags.”
Prior to the premiere of the stage musical, the public knew very little about the group’s history. During their initial research for the show, writers Brickman and Elice were surprised to discover that some of the band members had prison records. Says Gaudio, “Back then, things were a little clean-cut… so the idea of our story getting out was horrifying to us.” Other bands of that era projected street-tough images, but The Four Seasons cleaned themselves up in order to attract mainstream listeners.
Jersey Boys had its world premiere at the La Jolla Playhouse on October 5, 2004 and after several extensions closed on January 16, 2005. In that tryout production, David Noroña, Christian Hoff, Daniel Reichard, and J. Robert Spencer played The Four Seasons. At the end of the run, Noroña, who had originated the role of Frankie Valli, was replaced by John Lloyd Young who went on to win the 2006 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical (the show won a total of four, including Best Musical).
Directed by McAnuff, with choreography by Sergio Trujillo, the show began previews on Broadway on October 4, 2005 and officially opened on November 6. The cast featured John Lloyd Young as Frankie Valli along with Christian Hoff (Tommy DeVito), Daniel Reichard (Bob Gaudio), and J. Robert Spencer (Nick Massi) all reprising their original roles. The Broadway production is still running and as of April 9 of this year it had racked up nearly 3,500 performances, making it the thirteenth longest-running show in Broadway history. The show has had two North American National Tours, productions in London’s West End, Las Vegas, Chicago, Toronto, Melbourne, Singapore, South Africa, the Netherlands, and many more.
Now, back to the movie — in 2010, Graham King’s GK Films (The Departed, The Tourist) acquired the rights to produce a film adaptation of Jersey Boys. Brickman and Elice would write the screenplay and by August 2012, Jon Favreau was engaged to direct and casting had begun. Then, in November 2012, it was reported that Warner Bros. had dropped the film, but in May 2013 an interview with Four Seasons lead singer Frankie Valli indicated the film was still being produced and with Clint Eastwood directing no less. And so it was… with John Lloyd Young reprising his role as Valli, Erich Bergen as Bob Gaudio, Vincent Piazza as Tommy DeVito, and Michael Lomenda as Nick Massi.
I recently sat down with Erich Bergen and asked about his experience portraying music legend Bob Gaudio. “I hope Bob likes my performance,” Bergen said. “I know he had approval on casting, so unless he got the names mixed up and meant to suggest someone else, I think he likes my version of him. Rarely do actors who played roles on stage get to reprise their performances in film versions, so I know that getting this opportunity is quite rare and it means the world to me. But, having my performance committed to film and for it to be used as the reference point for one of the biggest musicals of all time…I don’t know if I’ll ever quite grasp that.” And what was it like to work with Clint Eastwood? “Amazing. He’s so respectful of everyone’s talents, actors and caterers alike. Clint is such a regular guy that I often had to remind myself that’s Dirty Harry!”
So, having conquered stage and screen, what’s up next for Erich Bergen? Television, of course! “Beginning this fall, CBS will beam me into your living room every Sunday night on Madam Secretary starring Tea Leoni. If you watch The Good Wife or you were a fan of The West Wing, you’ll love this show. I promise!” “Oh, What a Night,” indeed!
Jersey Boys opens in theaters on June 20.
