(left to right) Declan Egan, Michael Watson, Simon Bailey and Lewis Griffiths will star in the UK and Ireland tour of Jersey Boys. Picture: Matt Martin
A dozen extra dates have been added to the second UK and Ireland tour of the hit show Jersey Boys which is due to begin at Birmingham’s New Alexandra Theatre on 16 December.
Following on from the success of the show’s debut tour which ended in March last year, the second batch of extra venues will keep the show on the road until March 2019.
The newly announced 2018/19 dates are: Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury (2-13 October 2018); New Victoria Theatre, Woking (16-27 October 2018); Bristol Hippodrome (30 October-17 November 2018); Leeds Grand Theatre (20 November-1 December 2018); New Theatre Oxford (18 December 2018-5 January 2019); Wales Millennium Centre (16-26 January 2019); Palace Theatre Manchester (29 January-16 February 2019); Edinburgh Playhouse (19 February-2 March 2019); Bord Gáis Energy Theatre, Dublin (5-16 March 2019) and Mayflower Theatre Southampton (19-30 March 2019).
Staged by the entire original Broadway creative team led by director Des McAnuff and choreographer Sergio Trujillo, the touring version of the multi award-winning show will play Birmingham until 6 January 2018.
The producers also announced the casting of Michael Watson (We Will Rock You) as Frankie Valli, Simon Bailey (The Phantom of the Opera) as Tommy De Vito, Declan Egan (The Book of Mormon) as Bob Gaudio and Lewis Griffiths (Dirty Dancing) as Nick Massi. Watson and Bailey previously appeared in the show in the West End, while Egan appeared in the West End and Australia versions of the show, and Lewis starred in the first UK and Ireland tour. Dayle Hodge (Beauty and the Beast) will return to the production to play Frankie Valli at certain performances.
The cast also includes Joel Elferink as Bob Crewe, James Alexander Gibbs as Joey, Mark Heenehan as Gyp DeCarlo, Karl James-Wilson as Norm Waxman, Arnold Mabhena as Barry Belson, Phoebe May Newman as Francine, Olive Robinson as Lorraine, James Winter as Hank Majewski and Tara Young as Mary Delgado. Completing the cast will be Peter Nash, Dan O’Brien, Stephen O’Riain and Amy Thiroff.
The true rags to riches story of New Jersey’s Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, Jersey Boys first opened in London at the Prince Edward Theatre on 18 March 2008 and moved to the Piccadilly Theatre in March 2014. The Olivier Award-winning West End production closed in March this year. The first UK and Ireland tour was a record-breaking success and ran for 18 months, from 4 September 2014 to 5 March 2016.
Written by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice, with music by Bob Gaudio and lyrics by Bob Crewe, the production’s original Broadway creative line-up includes scenic design by Klara Zieglerova, costume design by Jess Goldstein, lighting by Howell Binkley, sound by Steve Canyon Kennedy and projection design by Michael Clark. The orchestrations are by Steve Orich and the music supervision and vocal arrangements by Ron Melrose.
Winner of Tony, Olivier and Helpmann Awards for Best New Musical, Jersey Boys has won 57 major international awards and has been seen by more than 24 million people worldwide. Jersey Boys can currently be seen across the United States on its National Tour. The Broadway production closed on 15 January 2017 as the 12th longest-running show in Broadway history.
The new tour dates follow on from the previously announced Liverpool Empire (9-20 January 2018), Milton Keynes Theatre (23 January-3 February), Stoke Regent Theatre (6-17 February), Hull New Theatre (20 February-3 March), Sunderland Empire (20-31 March), Glasgow King’s Theatre (3-14 April), Theatre Royal Plymouth (17 – 28 April), Nottingham Royal Concert Hall (9-19 May), Bradford Alhambra Theatre (22 May-2 June), Norwich Theatre Royal (5-16 June), Sheffield Lyceum Theatre (19-30 June), Aylesbury Waterside Theatre (3-14 July), Cliffs Pavilion, Southend (17-28 July), Newcastle Theatre Royal (31 July-11 August), His Majesty’s Theatre, Aberdeen (14-25 August), Wolverhampton Grand Theatre (28 August-8 September) and Belfast Grand Opera House (11-22 September).
The UK and Ireland tour of i is produced by Dodger Theatricals and Ambassador Theatre Group, with Joseph J Grano, Pelican Group, Latitute Link and Rick Steiner.
Angela Thomas
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