Valli, Gaudio, Elice & Rice Drop Suit Against JERSEY BOYS Stars for Unauthorized 'Boys In Concert' Tour

As BroadwayWorld has previously reported, Frankie Valli and Bob Gaudio - two of the original Jersey Boys of The Four Seasons - along with JERSEY BOYS: The Musical writers Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice had filed a law suit against six former JERSEY BOYS: The Musical performers, claiming that their tour, "The Boys in Concert," rips off of the Broadway musical in unauthorized ways.  The New York Post has previously reported that "The Rock 'n Roll Hall of Famer claims "The Boys in Concert" steals songs, stage elements and copyrighted logos to dupe patrons into thinking it's an "authorized road company" of the long-running Broadway musical."

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 had been filed against, among others, Christian Hoff, Tony-winner for his portrayal of Tommy DeVito and Michael Longoria.   The suit claims that The Boys in Concert has played venues in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Atlantic City to date, with a April 17th performance date scheduled in Westport Connecticut. For more information on "The Boys in Concert" visit www.theboysinconcert.com.

Today, the New York Post reports that Valli and company have dropped the suit against the Concert boys, on the condition that they change the name of their performance group.  The settlement gives the boys 30 days to rename themselves in a way that "that doesn't 'trade off of' the Broadway hit."

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.