Performances Begin Next Week: 2006 Tony® Award-Winning Best Musical JERSEY BOYS, Directed by Des McAnuff
Playing The Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts in Hartford February 4-22, 2009
HARTFORD, CT (January 26, 2009) – The Hartford engagement of JERSEY BOYS, the story of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons, begins next week at The Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts. The show will run February 4-22, 2009. The cast of JERSEY BOYS will be lead by Matt Bailey (Tommy DeVito), Joseph Leo Bwarie (Frankie Valli), Josh Franklin (Bob Gaudio) and Steve Gouveia (Nick Massi) as The Four Seasons, with Jonathan Hadley and Joseph Siravo.
The ensemble of JERSEY BOYS includes Sarah Darling, Christopher DeAngelis, Graham Fenton, John Gardiner, Buck Hujabre, Leo Huppert, Nathan Klau, Michelle Knight, Renée Marino, Brandon Matthieus, Denise Payne, Nathan Scherich, Brian Silverman, Courter Simmons, Ryan Strand and Kara Tremel.
JERSEY BOYS is the winner of the 2006 Best Musical Tony Award and the 2006 Grammy Award for Best Musical Show Album.
Directed by two-time Tony® Award-winner Des McAnuff, JERSEY BOYS 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.
JERSEY BOYS is part of The Hartford Financial Services Group Broadway Series.
JERSEY BOYS is the story of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons: Frankie Valli, Bob Gaudio, Tommy DeVito and Nick Massi. This is the story of how a 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 sounds and sold 175 million records worldwide - all before they were thirty.
JERSEY BOYS opened at the August Wilson Theatre on Broadway to critical acclaim on November 6, 2005. The JERSEY BOYS National Tour opened to rave reviews in San Francisco on December 1, 2006, played a record-breaking run in Los Angeles and is still breaking house records in cities across North America. There are six current productions of JERSEY BOYS: New York, London, Chicago, Las Vegas, Toronto, a US National tour, and a seventh production will open in Melbourne, Australia in July, 2009.
The JERSEY BOYS design and production team comprises 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 & Incidental Music).
JERSEY BOYS is produced by Dodger Theatricals, Joseph J. Grano, Tamara and Kevin Kinsella, Pelican Group, with Latitude Link and Rick Steiner.
JERSEY BOYS will make its Connecticut premiere in Hartford at The Bushnell February 4-22, 2009. Preview performances are February 4 and 5. The performance schedule is Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m., and Sunday at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. There will also be a matinee preview performance on Thursday, February 5 at 1 p.m.
The Original Broadway Cast Recording of JERSEY BOYS, produced by Bob Gaudio, was recently certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America. The cast recording is now available on Rhino Records. JERSEY BOYS: The Story of Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons (Broadway Books) is the official handbook to the smash Broadway hit.
Tickets for JERSEY BOYS start at $25.00 and are on sale now. VIP tickets are available for all performances. Tickets are available by visiting The Bushnell Box Office, calling (860) 987-5900, or online at www.bushnell.org. For more information, please visit www.JerseyBoysInfo.com or www.bushnell.org.
CAST BIOGRAPHIES
MATT BAILEY (Tommy DeVito) is thrilled to join the ol’ Jersey Boys neighborhood. NYC: Most Happy Fella, Cinderella, Mental, Night of the Hunter. Regional: The Full Monty, Bat Boy, Edward II, Jacques Brel, Hamlet, MUNY, Williamstown, St. Louis Rep. thanks to Jb creative team and DGRW. Love to family. Proud member of AEA. www.mattbailey.info.
JOSEPH LEO BWARIE (Frankie Valli) Opened Jersey Boys Las Vegas as ‘Frankie’ twice a week and is honored to join this company. Favorites from his early years: Highway to Heaven, Mama’s Family, The Addams Family, Radio Flyer, Batman Returns and seaQuest DSV. He’s performed on the Academy Awards, originated ‘Chachi’ in Happy Days: A New Musical, and co-created six original family musicals produced by Garry Marshall’s Falcon Theatre. Member of LA’s award-winning Troubadour Theater Co. Recent Film/TV: The Princess Diaries 2, Chronic Town, I Hate My 30s and 2009’s Race to Witch Mountain as ‘Frankie Valet.’
JOSH FRANKLIN (Bob Gaudio) Josh is an actor singer/songwriter originally from Colorado. He is thrilled to be a part of Jersey Boys! Broadway: Grease 2007 revival (u/s Danny, Teen Angel, Vince), Legally Blonde (u/s Emmett). Tours: All Shook Up (u/s Chad), Disney’s On The Record, Grease (Teen Angel). BFA Webster U. Check out his original music at www.joshfranklin.net and/or www.myspace.com/joshfranklinmusic
STEVE GOUVEIA (Nick Massi). Broadway: Jersey Boys. Steve is one of the original cast members of Jersey Boys, having been with the show ever since its world premiere at the La Jolla Playhouse in 2004. Regional credits include The Collected Works of Billy the Kid (dir. Des McAnuff), Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story, It Ain’t Nothin’ But The Blues, Cabaret, Pageant, Hedwig and the Angry Inch and Hair (with Sara Ramirez). As a musician, he has performed with members of The Doors, Manfred Mann, Icehouse, The CBS Orchestra, The Verve Pipe, Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, and many others. For more info, check out www.stevegouveia.com.
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For photos or interviews, please contact Amanda Guay at (860) 987-6068 or amanda_guay@bushnell.org.