Jersey Boys will Move from La Jolla to Broadway this Fall

By: May. 23, 2005
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After having broken records in its smash run at California's La Jolla Playhouse, the Four Seasons musical Jersey Boys will transfer to Broadway's Virginia Theatre.

The show, a mixture of bio- and jukebox musical, extended three times at La Jolla after opening on October 17th, 2004. At 120 performances, it closed on January 16th, 2005 at the company's Mandell Weiss Theatre.

Dodger Stage Holding will produce the show at the Virginia, which was most recently the home of Little Women. While no dates or casting have been announced, the show is expected to begin a run in September. La Jolla artistic director Des McAnuff will reprise his staging, and the original creative team will also be on hand.

Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice crafted Jersey Boys' book, and composer Bob Gaudio and Bob Crewe also added music to the score of Four Seasons doo-wop standards (among them, "Sherry," "Big Girls Don't Cry," and "Can't Take My Eyes Off of You"). Sergio Trujillo choreographed the La Jolla production, Ron Melrose was responsible for the musical direction, and Steve Orich orchestrated.

The musical charts the rise to fame of the Four Seasons and the group's quartet of stars-- Frankie Valli, Bob Gaudio, Tommy DeVito and Nick Massi. In the La Jolla production, Valli was played by David Noroña (Love! Valour! Compassion!), Daniel Reichard (The Thing About Men) portrayed Gaudio, Christian Hoff (The Who's Tommy) was DeVito, and J. Robert Spencer (Side Show) played Massi.

McAnuff directed the La Jolla production of The Who's Tommy--another long runner surpassed only by Jersey Boys. He is a two-time Tony winner for Tommy and for Big River.  McAnuff's other Broadway credits include Dracula, the Musical, Billy Crystal's solo show 700 Sundays, How to Succeed In Business Without Really Trying and A Walk in the Woods. He has also signed on to direct the upcoming October revival of The Wiz. As a member of Dodgers Theatricals, McAnuff has produced over two dozen Broadway shows.

For more information, visit www.lajollaplayhouse.com.
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