Perfect Boys' night out

Audiences love to see men from the wrong side of the tracks make good, Catherine Lambert writes

Jersey Boys is credited as the show that brought men back to musical theatre. A few minutes in the company of lead stars Bobby Fox and Stephen Mahy explains the credit.

This is a men's story. Women love it as much because it's so uplifting and full of heart, but it is a show that speaks directly to men while also entertaining them.


"The show's appeal is that as much as it's set in Jersey, it's really not about Jersey at all," Mahy says.

"It's a story about four guys aspiring to more than what they had. It's a story of brotherhood, mateship and larrikinism among guys who happened to be megastars. Of course, the Mafia thing is a big drawcard for people who don't see musicals, too."

Jersey Boys is the story behind the success of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, the blue-collar boys from a bad neighbourhood who became one of the biggest pop sensations.

Production supervisor Richard Hester says it is the sense of triumph that is at the heart of the show.

"It's about 10 years of not making any money and then within three to four months having three No. 1 hits in a row," Hester says.

"When you really go on that journey with these guys, it's inspiring because that's something we all want to achieve ourselves."

Bonded by their humble beginnings, none of the group members spoke ill of each other.

Even the falling out between original members Valli and Tommy DeVito never turned into a public slanging match.

"Tommy and Frankie still don't speak, but neither do they speak ill of each other," Fox says.

"The entire trust, love and respect between these guys is amazing."

But it was the friendship between chief songwriter Bob Gaudio, played by Mahy, and Valli, played by Fox, that was to be the most enduring.

In the show Gaudio explains the connection: "I never heard a voice like Frankie Valli's. After eight bars I knew I needed to write for the voice."

It took him two days to write four songs because he understood Valli's gift. And he wrote some of the most enduring pop songs from Walk Like a Man, Big Girls Don't Cry and Can't Take My Eyes Off You, which is one of the most remixed songs yet.

Gaudio wasn't from such a bad area as the others and went to an upper-class school, but it was his difference that took the group to another level.

"The other guys were trying to gig and borrowing money -- Tommy, in particular, owed a lot of money to the Mafia," Fox says.

Mahy says: "Bob really helped them and even though he knows his work is good, he's very modest about his own performing."

Both of these roles are big breaks for Fox and Mahy. Fox is primarily a dancer and was four times world Irish dance champion. He moved to Australia seven years ago and worked on Mamma Mia!, Spamalot and Dusty, but always as a dancer.

His role in Jersey Boys sees him singing falsetto and showing broad vocal range.

He is discovering a new skill and appreciation for Valli's voice.

"Frankie's famous falsetto voice was more of a gimmick than anything else in the beginning, but he became so naturally able to do it that it was beautiful ornamentation. It became iconic," Fox says.

He has been undergoing intensive lessons to capture that Valli sound.

He takes 60-minute vocal lessons on Skype with the show's resident vocal coach in New York.

"I'm confident about it," he says.

"I can feel the placement of sound in my head and half of it is just knowing that I'm doing the right thing. I trust the creative team on this show implicitly."

Mahy, on the other hand, is more of a singer, having toured Australia as David Harris's replacement in Miss Saigon. He has found it more difficult to grasp the choreography in this show. The uniform 1960s style of singing and dancing together has been hard to learn.

"This dancing is more about style than anything -- it's very masculine with strong, purposeful lines," Mahy says.

"The Four Seasons didn't ever really dance, but every step has a very precise purpose."

Hester says for a show that is so dependent on the cast, rather than special effects and gimmicks, the Australian cast is spectacular.

He works with new casts around the world and is impressed with the Australian energy.

"There is an openness to Australian performers in general that makes it a lot easier to create the show," he says.

"This group is incredibly enthusiastic and very well-trained. They have experience in far more than music theatre, which is different from the US where they tend to specialise in one thing."

Getting the show ready by July, though, is not without its challenges. Rehearsals began two weeks ago and it begins previews on June 20. Hester has worked on other big shows before such as Phantom of the Opera and Wicked, but says Jersey Boys has twice as many automation cues.

"The focus on this show is always on the actors, whereas both those other shows are about the spectacle," he says.

"Our show moves so quickly and the actors have to move so quickly that it's a challenge. We also have to turn these guys into Jersey Australians -- that is one of my greatest joys."

Jersey Boys opens at the Princess Theatre on July 4. Bookings: 1300 795 012.

SOURCE: Sunday Herald Sun - Catherine Lambert - 17 May 2009