Meeting the Jersey Boys

Jersey Boys, the Musical, is currently playing at the Marina Bay Sands Singapore.   I had the opportunity to speak to the 2 lead cast members recently, and they are: Grant Almirall (Frankie Valli)  and Daniel Buys (Tommy Devito).  The other 2 were Kenneth Meyer (Bob Gaudio) and Emmanuel Castis (Nick Massi).

The cast hails from South Aftica.  So how was the arts scene there?  Well, it was good enough to earn a decent living.  There were not many musicals being staged in South Africa and both had to audition for the roles.  Grant initially auditioned for another role as he felt that his vocal range was not the same as that of Frankie Valli's.  But he eventually got the lead role.

Daniel was just finishing the South African run of Mama Mia! and auditioned for the musical.  He was offered the role of Tommy Devito but the producers were initially sceptical whether he was the right choice.  So while the actors playing the role of Frankie Valli would traditionally go for a "Frankie camp" in New York, Daniel also went along.

Besides familiarised themselves with the role, the few of them had the opportunity to visit the Belmont Tavern in New Jersey, where the bartender had a few tales about Tommy Devitto and the band.  Grant also had a personal session with Bob Gaudio, the key songwriter of The Four Seasons and one of the producers of this musical.

While it looked as if the 4 main cast members were performing effortless on stage, they found certain section of the choreography challenging.  In particular, they singled out the Sherry/ Big Girls Don't Cry/ Walk Lik A Man segment as the most challenging, as they need to remember the moves, sing and also play the instrument.   For Grant, singing like Frankie Valli involved doing lots of vocal exercises.  And as in other Jersey Boys productions, he only did 6 performances (out of 8) a week.  Their favourite tracks included Beggin and Bye Bye Baby.
The cast were busy with the performances and do not have time to explore the city much.  They are bringing the musical back to South Africa, and possibly a tour to Hong Kong in the near future.

For more information: http://www.jerseyboys.com.sg/