‘Jersey Boys’ juggernaut takes on Vegas Strip
“Jersey Boys” continues to sell out on Broadway 2 1/2 years later, and there are companies doing it in Chicago and London, and seemingly everywhere in between. Most recently, the show opened at a new, custom-made Jersey Boys Theatre in Vegas, in the just-opened, all-suite Palazzo hotel. A Toronto company comes next. Then Australia. Then . . . .
Continue reading -- and watch the videos -- of the behind-the-scenes story of “Jersey Boys.”
Read Times Theater Critic Charles McNulty’s review of the Vegas show.
PHOTO GALLERY TOUR WITH FRANKIE VALLI:
Loitering at the piano in his Calabasas home is a rare luxury for Frankie Valli. His concert-touring career has been energized by the pop-culture phenomenon of “Jersey Boys,” and when that doesn’t keep him on the move, he can almost always find a “Jersey” production to drop in on. The newest presentation of “Jersey Boys,” the stage musical built from the lives and songs of the 4 Seasons, is at Las Vegas’ Palazzo resort-hotel-casino. (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)
Franki Valli of the Four Seasons at home in Calabasas.
Rick Faugno portrays the young Frankie Valli in “Jersey Boys” at the Palazzo in Las Vegas. (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)
Bob Gaudio, keyboardist and songwriter with the 4 Seasons, stands at a Palazzo blackjack table bearing the “Jersey Boys” logo. A souvenir kiosk sells a “Jersey Boys”-branded leather jacket for $695. Its scary, he says of it all. The word franchise flashes before your eyes. (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)
Erich Bergen portrays Bob Gaudio in a Jersey Boys scene with Julia Krohn. (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)
“Jersey Boys” has changed the lives of all three of the surviving 4 Seasons. Guitarist Tommy DeVito has released an instrumental album of standards and, here, records another one in Las Vegas. (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)
Jeremy Kushnier portrays the 4 Seasons’ Tommy DeVito in the Palazzo presentation of “Jersey Boys.” (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)
“Jersey Boys” turns back the clock to revisit the 4 Seasons in younger days. The Palazzo cast is led by, from left, Erich Bergen as Bob Gaudio, Rick Faugno as Frankie Valli, Jeremy Kushnier as Tommy DeVito and Jeff Leibow as Nick Massi. (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)
The 4 Seasons look pretty squeaky-clean here, as portrayed by, from left, Jeff Leibow as Nick Massi, Rick Faugno as Frankie Valli, Erich Bergen as Bob Gaudio and Jeremy Kushnier as Tommy DeVito. But “Jersey Boys,” inspired by the group’s true-life story, also depicts a grimmer tale of economic hardship and brushes with the law. (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)
Marriage is in the stars for Mary Delgado, portrayed by Joyce Chittick, and Frankie Valli, played by Rick Faugno. (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)
A neon guitar joins the lights of Vegas as the musical opens at the new, 1,700-seat Jersey Boys Theatre in the Palazzo Restor-Hotel-Casino. From left, Erich Bergen as Bob Gaudio, Rick Faugno as Frankie Valli, Jeremy Kushnier as Tommy DeVito and Jeff Leibow as Nick Massi. (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)
