CHICAGO’S RECORD-BREAKING ‘Jersey Boys’ WELCOMES CHICAGOAN Cory Grant

TO THE ROLE OF Frankie Valli 

 

The Chicago company of Jersey Boys is thrilled to welcome Chicagoan Cory Grant to the role of Frankie Valli beginning Saturday, September 27, 2008.  A native of Winnetka, IL, and graduate of New Trier High School, Grant returns to his hometown after 10 months in the Broadway ensemble of Jersey Boys.

 

Jersey Boys, the story of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons, is currently playing at Chicago’s Bank of America Theatre (18 W. Monroe) in an open run. 

 

Jersey Boys stars Drew Gehling as Bob Gaudio, Cory Grant as Frankie Valli, Chicagoan Michael Ingersoll as Nick Massi and Chicagoan Bryan McElroy as Tommy DeVito, with Craig Laurie and Chicagoan Jonathan Weir.

 

The ensemble of Jersey Boys includes Michelle Aravena, Dominic Bogart, Lyndsey Cole, John Michael Coppola, John Michael Dias, Mike Erickson, Alayna Gallo, Steven M. Goldsmith, John Hickman, Michelle Knight, Renee Marino, Kraig McCreary, Rashad Naylor, Timothy Quinlan, Chuck Webb and Ryan Quinn West.

 

Directed by two-time Tony^® Award-winner Des McAnuff, Jersey Boys won both the 2006 Tony^® Award for Best Musical and the 2006 Grammy Award^® for Best Musical Recording, and continues to break box office records on Broadway at the August Wilson Theatre since opening in November 2005.  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 is presented in Chicago by Broadway In Chicago and TheatreDreams.  Jersey Boys premiered in Chicago at the Bank of America Theatre (18 W. Monroe) on October 5, 2007 and became a resident production on February 27, 2008.

  

Jersey Boys is the story of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons: Frankie Valli, Bob Gaudio, Tommy DeVito and Nick Massi.  This is the story 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 Jersey Boys design and production team comprises Klara Zieglerova (Scenic Design), Jess Goldstein (Costume Design), Howell Binkley (winner of the 2006 Tony^® Award for his Lighting Design of Jersey Boys), Steve Canyon Kennedy (Sound Design), Michael Clark (Projections Design), Charles LaPointe (Wig and Hair Design), Steve Orich (Orchestrations) and Ron Melrose (Music Direction, Vocal Arrangements & Incidental Music).

 

Jersey Boys is produced by Dodger Theatricals, Joseph J. Grano, Tamara and Kevin Kinsella, Pelican Group with Latitude Link and Rick Steiner.

 

Jersey Boys performance schedule is as follows:  Tuesdays at 7:30 p.m.; Wednesdays at 2:00 p.m. & 7:30 p.m.; Thursdays at 7:30 p.m.; Fridays at 8 p.m.; Saturdays at 2 p.m. & 8 p.m.; and Sundays at 2 p.m. 

 

Tickets for Jersey Boys range in price from $30 - $110.  A limited number of premium seats are available.  Tickets are available at Broadway In Chicago Box Offices (18 W. Monroe, 24 W. Randolph St. and 151 W. Randolph St.), through the Broadway In Chicago Ticket Line at (312) 902-1400, at all Ticketmaster ticket centers (including Carson Pirie Scott stores, Hot Tix, select Coconuts and fye stores) or online at ticketmaster.com.  Groups should call (312) 977-1710. To search best available seating for upcoming performances, visit www.BroadwayInChicago.com/BestSeats. 

 

Rush tickets ($25) go on-sale at 10 a.m. (11 a.m. on Sundays) the day of each performance.  Ten (10) front row seats are available at the Bank of America Theatre Box Office (18 W. Monroe) only.  As many as forty (40) additional seats, subject to availability at select performances, are made available online at Ticketmaster.com and at the Bank of America Theatre Box office.   Rush ticket limit is two (2) tickets per patron and all seats are limited view.

 

For more information on Jersey Boys, go to www.JerseyBoysChicago.com or www.BroadwayInChicago.com.

 

BIOGRAPHIES

 

Drew Gehling (Bob Gaudio) Past credits include shows and workshops Off- Broadway, at Paper Mill Playhouse, Roundabout Theatre Company, Utah Shakespearean Festival, and the New York Theatre Workshop (at Dartmouth). Favorites: The Flamingo Kid (Workshop), Moby Dick (NYTW), Hello, Dolly! (Paper Mill), Candide, Assassins, Myths and Hymns, Richard III, The Duchess of Malfi, and Nightingale (a new musical by Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater). Film: Blinders (starring Jamie-Lynn Sigler) and Bully (Rockstar Games). A graduate of Carnegie Mellon University.

 

Cory Grant (Frankie Valli) Broadway: Jersey Boys (Frankie Valli). New York City: Broken Hands (Winner Best Actor, FringeNYC 2006), The Lightning Field (Winner Best Play, FringeNYC 2005). Nat’l Tour: Romeo in Romeo & Juliet. Regional: The Who’s Tommy, Floyd Collins (Berkshire Theater Festival), Little Shop of Horrors, My Fair Lady (Northern Stage). Cory also stars in a new musical, CUTMAN, currently in development (www.cutmanthemusical.com). Cory is thrilled to be performing in his hometown of Chicago!

 

Michael Ingersoll (Nick Massi) is overjoyed to return home to Chicago where credits include tick, tick, ...BOOM! (Jonathan Larson, Jeff Citation Nomination) and I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change (Robert). Regional: Outstanding Actor award nominations for Bat Boy: The Musical (Bat Boy); Of Mice and Men (George); Floyd Collins (Floyd Collins); and Disney’s Beauty & the Beast (Lumiere). Film: Walk the Line (Donzil).

 

Bryan McElroy (Tommy DeVito) A Chicago native, his past credits include: First National Tour: Thoroughly Modern Millie (Jimmy). Off Broadway: I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change (Man #1) Regional: Across the Way (Peter); King O’ the Moon (Rudy); Grease (Kenickie); Taming of the Shrew (Hortensio); Evita (Che); The Big Funk (Gregory); Lucky Stiff (Bellhop); The Rink (Lucky); School House Rock Live! (Joe and Tom) Off-Broadway Reading: The Navigator (Nate); Wingman (Josh).

 

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