'Jersey Boys' Breaks Chicago Box Office Record for 2nd Time

The Chicago engagement of Jersey Boys broke the weekly gross house record at the LaSalle Bank Theatre for the second time.  The box office took in a total of $1,143,780.04 for the 8-performance week ending November 18, 2007.

The show broke their previous record of $1,120,920.90 for the 9-performance week ending October 21, 2007.

Jersey Boys began previews Friday, October 5 and opened to rave reviews on Sunday, October 14, 2007.  The production, which was originally scheduled to play through April 13, has been extended through July 13, 2008. 

"Jersey Boys is the story of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons – Frankie Valli, Bob Gaudio, Tommy DeVito and Nick Massi, and how this group of blue-collar boys from the wrong side of the tracks became one of the biggest American pop music sensations of all time. They wrote their own songs, invented their own sound and sold 175 million records worldwide – all before they were thirty," explain press notes.

Jersey Boys stars Drew Gehling as Bob Gaudio, Chicagoan Michael Ingersoll as Nick Massi, Jeremy Kushnier as Tommy DeVito and Jarrod Spector as Frankie Valli, with Craig Laurie and Chicagoan Jonathan Weir. The ensemble includes Dominic Bogart, Lyndsey Cole, John Michael Coppola, John Michael Dias, Mike Erickson, Steven M. Goldsmith, John Hickman, Lauren Marshall, Kraig McCreary, Rashad Naylor, Jake Speck, Jenny Lee Stern, Kara Tremel, Chuck Webb and Ryan Quinn West.

Jersey Boys is directed by two-time Tony Award winner Des McAnuff.  The musical, which won a total of four Tony Awards and continues to set new weekly box office records at the August Wilson Theatre on Broadway, is written by Academy Award winner Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice, with music by Bob Gaudio, lyrics by Bob Crewe and choreography by Sergio Trujillo.

The design and production team for Jersey Boys includes Klara Zieglerova (scenic design), Jess Goldstein (costume design), Howell Binkley (winner of the 2006 Tony Award for his lighting design of Jersey Boys), Steve Canyon Kennedy (sound design), Michael Clark (projections design), Charles LaPointe (wig and hair design), Steve Orich (orchestrations) and Ron Melrose (music direction, vocal arrangements and incidental music).

Jersey Boys is produced by Dodger Theatricals, Joseph J. Grano, Tamara and Kevin Kinsella, Pelican Group, with Latitude Link and Rick Steiner.

The Original Broadway Cast Recording of Jersey Boys, produced by Bob Gaudio, received the 2007 Grammy Award for Best Musical Show Album.  Jersey Boys: The Story of Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons (Broadway Books) is the official handbook to the smash Broadway hit.