Hoff, Longoria, Reichard, and Spencer Counter-Sue JERSEY BOYS Producers and Four Seasons

Christian Hoff, Michael Longoria, Daniel Reichard and J. Robert Spencer - all stars from the original cast of Broadway's JERSEY BOYS - are fighting back against Frankie Valli, Bob Gaudio, Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice and the producers of JERSEY BOYS - Dodger Theatricals, Ltd. and Jersey Boys Broadway L.P. - in what a new statement says  is "an effort to defend their right to continue to thrill audiences with concerts that are, and always have been, purely an evening of music from multiple iconic groups of the 1960s, and of reminiscences of their Broadway experiences."

The statement goes on to read that

"The JERSEY BOYS stars are also vigorously defending their right to fairly reference their former association with the show and have retained the highly respected firm of Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp, LLP to represent them. "These four incredibly talented men have earned the legal right, through years of toil and artistic effort (including a Tony award for Mr. Hoff) to tell audiences of the historically accurate fact that they were stars in JERSEY BOYS," says entertainment attorney Howard Weller, handling the case in the firm's New York office. "It is also completely false and, frankly, ridiculous to suggest - as Valli, Gaudio and the producers of JERSEY BOYS have - that our clients are performing a copycat show of JERSEY BOYS. They sing songs from the 1960s that include some Four Seasons hits, and that doesn't duplicate JERSEY BOYS any more than John Coltrane's rendition of ‘My Favorite Things' copied The Sound of Music."

Hoff, Longoria, Reichard and Spencer have also countersued Valli, Gaudio and the producers of JERSEY BOYS alleging the use of "bully tactics" in an "effort to injure the livelihood and the reputations" of their former stars. The suit contains allegations of improper threats toward members of their backup band and wrongful interference with promoters and venues and seeks over a million dollars together with punitive damages. According to the pleading, "Hoff, Longoria, Reichard and Spencer have refused to buckle to bogus charges." Instead, they are "holding firm to their legal right to sing the songs that they love" and to "fairly describe who they are." Mr. Weller notes that "it is disappointing that our clients have been forced to litigate because they respect and admire The Four Seasons and the team that brought JERSEY BOYS to life and have demonstrated the utmost of good faith toward them, but we look forward to the jury vindicating our clients' rights.""

Last month, BroadwayWorld reported that the original lawsuit might have been settled. The production's website, www.theboysinconcert.com, had been updated to reflect rebranding, including a new title, "The 4 Hitmen." This web site has now been renamed sixtieslive.com and states that This special concert tour reunites four stars from the original cast of Broadway's Jersey Boys. Tony-Award winner Christian Hoff, Michael Longoria, Daniel Reichard and Tony-Award nominee J. Robert Spencer, star in this one-of-a-kind concert experience celebrating the music that defined the 60's. Music from Beatles to Beach Boys to Motown and of course, the Four Seasons!"

At the time of the lawsuit, Valli and company were seeking an end to the tour, in addition to $150,000 for each of 10 tunes performed, in addition to the production's profits. Reportedly, they were also seeking unspecified damage compensation for copyright infringement.

The suit was filed against, among others, Christian Hoff, Tony-winner for his portrayal of Tommy DeVito and Michael Longoria. The suit claimed that The Boys in Concert has played venues in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Atlantic City to date.

JERSEY BOYS is the winner of the 2006 Best Musical Tony Award®, the 2006 Grammy Award for Best Musical Show Album and the 2009 Olivier Award for Best New Musical.

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 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, Las Vegas, Toronto, a US National tour, and Melbourne, Australia.

JERSEY BOYS is the story of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons: Frankie Valli, Bob Gaudio, Tommy DeVito and Nick Massi. It's a journey 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.

The Original Broadway Cast Recording of JERSEY BOYS was produced by Bob Gaudio, and was recently certified Platinum 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.

For more information, visit www.JerseyBoysInfo.com.