JERSEY BOYS to Make South African Premiere in June 2013

The runaway worldwide smash hit musical, JERSEY BOYS, currently playing in major cities worldwide including New York, Las Vegas, London, Auckland, Brisbane and across the USA, makes its South African premiere at the Teatro at Montecasino on Wednesday, April 3, 2013 and will then open at Artscape, Cape Town Wednesday, June 19, 2013.

The New York production of JERSEY BOYS, which opened to critical acclaim on Sunday, November 6, 2005 and will soon celebrate seven years on Broadway, remains among Broadway’s top selling musicals and is the longest running show in the history of the August Wilson Theatre, where it has played over 2,800 performances. The show has been seen by over 14 million people worldwide and is currently playing in New York, Las Vegas, London, across the U.S. on two national tours; Brisbane, Australia and will open soon in Singapore and Auckland.

JERSEY BOYS is the story of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons: Frankie Valli, Bob Gaudio, Tommy DeVito and Nick Massi, about a group of blue-collar boys from the wrong side of the tracks who 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 show features all their hits including “Sherry,” “Big Girls Don’t Cry,” “Oh What A Night,” “Walk Like A Man,” “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” and “Working My Way Back To You.”

JERSEY BOYS is the recipient of the 2006 Tony Award for Best Musical and the 2009 Olivier Award for Best Musical. The Original Broadway Cast Recording, produced by Bob Gaudio, received the 2006 Grammy Award for Best Musical Show Album and has been certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

JERSEY BOYS South African Producer, Hazel Feldman of Showtime Management announced the cast and introduced the Four Seasons played by Grant Almirall (Chicago, Evita, Jesus Christ Superstar) as Frankie Valli; Daniel Buys (Boys in the Photograph, Mamma Mia!) as Tommy DeVito; Kenneth Meyer (Boys in the Photograph, Evita, Jesus Christ Superstar) as Bob Gaudio and television star Emanuel Castis (Scandal!, Isidingo, season 4 winner of Strictly Come Dancing) as Nick Massi with Jaco van Rensberg (Showboat, Chicago, Grease ) playing Frankie Valli at certain performances.

The three leading female characters are fondly dubbed, the “Jersey Girls”. Carmen Pretorius (Footloose!, Mamma Mia, Cabaret) is Lorraine, Taryn-Lee Hudson is Mary and Kirsten Murphy (Some Like it Vrot, Grease, M-Net’s Crimes Uncovered) is Francine. The ensemble features a host of multi-talented local performers including Duane Alexander (Chicago, Cats, Cabaret, Beauty and the Beast), Bjorn Blignault (Jam Alley, Idols finalist Idols, Dreamgirls), Charlie Bouguenon (The King & I, Buddy – the Buddy Holly story, Thoroughly Modern Millie), Matt Counihan (Grease, Rocky Horror Picture Show, Cabaret), Christopher Dudgeon (Showboat, Tree Aan!, Rocky Horror Picture Show), Ryan Flynn (Beauty and the Beast, Rocky Horror Picture Show, Cinderella), Stephen Jubber (Dalliances, Mamma Mia!, Jesus Christ Superstar), Lara Adine Lipschitz (Pippi Longstocking, Isidingo), Kyle Matthews (Ragtime, Evita, Jesus Christ Superstar), Byron Olivato (Hairspray, Boys in the Photograph, African Footprint) and Stephan van der Walt (Giselle, Chronicles, E-Boyz).

Bryan Schimmel, Musical Director heads the South African creative team. Anton Luitingh is Resident Director; Duane Alexander is Resident Choreographer and Dance Captain; Alistair Kilbee is Technical Director and Yolanda Kimber is Company Manager. The visiting top- notch New York based global creative team of Ron Melrose, Music Supervisor; Richard Hester, Production Supervisor and Danny Austin, Associate Choreographer are responsible for staging JERSEY BOYS globally. The two creative teams will work closely together.

The remarkable aspect about this company is they begin rehearsing in Johannesburg and then finalise on-stage preparations in Singapore where the show first opens internationally at the Marina Bay Sands in November, 2012 for a 14 week season before returning to South Africa to premier at The Teatro, Montecasino in April 2013, followed by a season in Cape Town and future Asian territories. The opportunity for the South African performers, band and crew to work internationally on JERSEY BOYS is simply, “too good to be true”.

JERSEY BOYS is written by Academy Award-winner Marshall Brickman & Rick Elice with music by Bob Gaudio, lyrics by Bob Crewe and is directed by two-time Tony Award winner Des McAnuff and choreographed by Sergio Trujillo with music direction, vocal arrangements and incidental music by Ron Melrose. The production design team is Klara Zieglerova, Scenic Designer; Jess Goldstein, Costume Designer; Howell Binkley, Lighting Designer and Michael Clark, Projection Designer.

JERSEY BOYS is presented by Dodger Theatricals, Base Entertainment, Showtime Management, Joseph J. Grano, Tamara and Kevin Kinsella, Pelican Group in association with Latitude Link, Rick Steiner.

“JERSEY BOYS is a powerful piece of theatre with extraordinary music – it runs at breath-taking pace. When the final curtain falls and you are on your feet – and EVERYONE is always on their feet – all you want to do is come back to see it a second time! This is a evening of exceptional entertainment…!!” says Hazel Feldman.

For further information visit www.jerseyboyssa.co.za or follow the Jersey Boys journey on Twitter: https://twitter.com/JerseyBoysSA and Facebook https://www.facebook.com/pages/JerseyBoysSA/425649164133222