Exclusive Interview With Toronto's Own Jersey Boys

The Tony Award winning smash hit musical Jersey Boys is a world-wide sensation, with shows running in New York, Chicago, Las Vegas, and a US National Tour.  In addition, there is a production in London, England and one scheduled to open in Melbourne, Australia in July.  Toronto, Ontario has had its own Canadian production of Jersey Boys running for the past few months, and BWW got the chance to do an exclusive interview with the four Jersey Boys themselves. 

Jersey Boys tells the story of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons.  Spanning over four decades, the show gives a unique look at how the group was formed and the various trials and tribulations the guys faced throughout the years.  Each "Jersey Boy" gets his own "season" in the show, a chance to talk to The Audience and deliver monologues telling his side of the story behind the music.  During this rare sit-down, the four actors who bring these roles to life every night talk candidly about their individual experiences auditioning and becoming a part of Jersey Boys. 

Jeff Madden plays Frankie Valli, Jeremy Kushnier is Tommy DeVito, Quinn Vanantwerp is Bob Gaudio and Michael Lomenda is Nick Massi.  The four guys really seemed like a family, laughing and enjoying the opportunity to explain to the world how they came together as a group both on-stage and off.  Perhaps one of the most interesting things about getting to speak to the Canadian Jersey Boys is getting the opportunity to listen to how closely their story often parallels the real story behind the Four Seasons.  From the gruelling audition process, the waiting and not knowing, to bringing in a last minute replacement (Bob Gaudio was the last to join the Four Seasons, and Quinn Vanantwerp was a last minute replacement in the role) it is easy to see the parallels that exist between our Canadian Jersey Boys and the original Four Seasons themselves. 

Mr. Kushnier, who has been involved with varioUs Productions of Jersey Boys for over two years, kicked off the interview with his story:

Jeremy: Well, I'll start off as I've been with the show the longest.  I started in the Chicago company.  My first experience auditioning for the role was two years ago just this past month when I auditioned over ten times.  The first was for the National Tour, and for that one I got right up to the final call and then didn't get cast.  Then I auditioned for the Chicago Company and I got the role.  I don't know what it was like for the rest of you guys, but for me, the dancing was always the hardest.  They have a lot of these singer/actor guys who can play instruments and then they tell us to get in a room and dance, its hilarious!  The second dance call-back they made us all do the Frankie split, I think that was a joke of Sergio's (Sergio Trujillo, the choreographer).  They even made the guys auditioning to be Gyp DeCarlo do it.  We even had to do the hip-hop combo that opens the show.  But then again, the original Bob Crewe on Broadway was also the Dance Captain, so you never know!

It was really hard. The big thing is that Des (Des McAnuff, the director) really wanted there to be a seamless transition between actors/musicians, he really wanted it to be a band on stage.  For every audition we had to bring in a guitar, we didn't have to be great musicians but we did have to know how to play.  There are a lot of musicians up there on stage each night.

Jeff (to Jeremy): How often would you say you are actually playing during the show?

Jeremy: I play about 60% of the times when I'm holding the guitar, sometimes I'm lazy or there is too much dancing so I don't.  Sometimes the guitars are just coming on or off too fast and I just don't have time.  But if a person picks up and holds a guitar, you can tell if they have ever played before.  We've seen some Frankenstein's in our time...guys where you can just tell they have never played.   

Jeff (directed at Quinn): Your audition story is pretty much the opposite isn't it?

Quinn: Yeah, I was a last minute replacement.  I first auditioned for the tour, and I didn't get that part.  When I did get the role for the Toronto production, I started rehearsals two days after I was hired and it was right around Christmas.  I only got to do one run-through with the Toronto Cast and it ended up only being half a run-through.  

Jeff:  There was a mechanical problem with the trap unit that prevented us from finishing our full run. So our first show with Quinn in it was literally our first full run-through with him.

Quinn: I started after only about fourteen days.  Nine were spent rehearsing and then a few breaks for the Christmas holidays. I went out there for the first time that first night in Toronto and it was great.  That first meeting of "Cry for Me" when Bob (Quinn's character) first meets everyone was so eerily real, because the four of us had never really sung together.  There is a lot that is very real about this whole experience for me.  I have a line in the show that says "So now I've got everything a 22 year old could want.  A slew of hit records and a brand new convertible" and it's weird, because that's very much ...

Jeremy: Your life!

Quinn: Exactly.  It's basically my life.  I'm 22 and I feel like that's exactly what's happened to me. 

BWW: And you are also the only non-Canadian in the production.  Is that correct?

Quinn: Yeah that's right.  I'm from California so I was a bit of a whiner. Not used to the cold Canadian winters.

Jeff: Nah, don't listen to him, he was great. I don't know how you could learn a show like this in nine days in a room half this size in New York with only one other person.  That's a hard thing to do.  Then he flies up here and sees his cast on stage and the next day gets to do a half run-through, and then immediately afterwards is performing in the show.   

Jeremy: We were all blown away by it because the majority of the cast had just gone through learning the show first hand through a five week rehearsal process.  We got to go over everything again and again with the whole ensemble and then this kid comes in from out of nowhere and just starts performing the show.  It's not that he just knew where he was supposed to be but he was also really performing and being a part of it.  

Quinn: The great thing about it is that although it was really hard, it was also easy at the same time because everything worked so well around me.  I didn't have to worry about anyone else, I just had to fit in and not get in the way.  

Jeff: Yeah, Jersey Boys is run like a well-oiled machine because they have to be able to teach the show to the new casts and replacement actors if necessary. The Jersey Boys team is really top-notch and they teach the show to each cast in exactly the same way. That way, new cast members can just slide themselves in, and you don't have to worry about anyone getting in the way. It's seamless.

Jeremy (to Michael): What was your process like? You and Jeff are the only two to have auditioned in Canada so it would have been a different experience.

Michael: Two years ago they came up to audition for a Bob for one of the productions. At the time I didn't know which Bob they were looking for. I went and auditioned for that and I think it was one of the top ten worst auditions I've ever had.  I remember leaving and thinking that the door on this opportunity had closed on me for sure.  And then a few months later I got a call saying they wanted to see me again.

Jeremy: What made it your worst audition ever?

Michael: It was just really bad.  I came in, I sang my song and it just didn't click so I remember thinking that was the end.  I was really worked up too because my parents were in town visiting, so I was really excited and dressed in my nice suit, sweating because it was the middle of summer!  When I got the call-back from the agency I actually laughed because I remember thinking there was just no way.

I did some more research and went on the website to look at headshots and I noticed all the Bob's were blonde, fresh-faced and clean shaven.  I remember thinking that's totally not me.  I phoned my agent and I said I would prepare for the Bob audition, but I asked for them to send me the Nick sides as well.  I went in for that audition and after I performed the Bob stuff, they asked me to do some Nick stuff.  It was great because I was already prepared and it ended up working out really well for me.

Jeff: How many times did they see you?

Michael: Well I went in that summer but I couldn't be there for the dance call, so again I remember leaving and figuring that the door had closed again.  Then in September, I was out in Fredericton, doing the Rocky Horror Picture Show and found out they wanted to see me again.  So I called my agency and said to them "Ok, I'm going to spend over a grand flying back and forth for this audition, is it worth it?" And my agent said yes, so I did it.

Jeremy: (laughs) Of course she did! Typical agent answer.

Michael: So I flew back for the first call, then I went back to Rocky Horror and then I flew back again to finish up the auditions and again I thought I had done really terrible.  They didn't have me do all the sides and I just had a really bad feeling.  But then on the opening night of Rocky Horror in Fredericton I got a call from my agent saying I was going to get an offer.  It was really exciting but I couldn't tell anyone until it actually happened.

My agent and I sat on it for a couple of weeks, and I finished my run of Rocky Horror and then I flew back to Northern Ontario to do a show there.  I was doing rehearsals for Forever Plaid and not really sure if or when I would be starting Jersey Boys and unable to say anything to anybody.  But then it finally happened.  My agent called on a Saturday morning which never happens, and said that it was a go.

Jeff:  And I think that was the big question, everyone was wondering if we were going to replace the touring cast.  Would it be a Canadian cast?

Michael: Exactly. That Friday I called my agency to ask when the show might actually happen and was told that they had no clue when or if it was going to happen.  And then finally, the very next morning I was told that it was a go. 

Quinn: It can take awhile, I went in four different times. The first time I auditioned I remember feeling so set...I was the only Bob there so I figured I was good. And then I waited weeks and weeks.  I started thinking that if it was going to happen, it would probably be at the worst possible moment.  Sure enough, I get a call one Thursday night when I was out kicking back and about three margaritas in! They told me I was going to be a last minute replacement and then everything happened very quickly.

Jeremy (to Jeff): And Frankie, tell us your story...they plucked you out of a coffee shop somewhere...

Jeff: Yeah, an agent found me on the street (laughter).  Actually, the first time I was called to audition, I was in the middle of my seventh of eight seasons at Shaw, and was very happy. My agent asked me to audition for Frankie Valli and I thought to myself, "I can't do that." And, I was happy doing what I was doing.  I was in a very good show and Jersey Boys was so far away from what I was used to doing, so I said no.  And then I realized how stupid that was!  But anyways, this past summer another audition notice came out and I thought this time I should give it a shot.  

I still didn't think I could do it.  Physically I didn't think I could sing that way.  I couldn't pick a song.  You know, your first audition is very basic, you prepare a song of your choice and then if they want to see you for the dance call you do that.  But I struggled so much choosing a song and ended up singing something from Grease.  I had played Danny Zuko before and the song had a high note so I figured it would work. I remember I didn't think I sang it very well, and I remember thinking in my head "ask me to sing something else, I wanna do better" but of course I couldn't tell anyone that.  I figured that I had blown it, but then I was asked to come back in a few days to do a work session. Before I left, I was handed this massive stack of papers, just literally a huge pile dumped in front of me.  I was just told very casually to get familiar with it.  I remember thinking it was going to be impossible, because I was headed back to Shaw and had to get right back to work

The work session was supposed to be twenty minutes of music and twenty minutes of scene work.  I had never had a work session before, but from what I remember, it seemed like it was an opportunity for the casting people to try the show out on you, almost like they were putting a suit on you to see how you would look in it. 

Jeremy: Who was there?

Jeff: Richard Hester (Production Supervisor) was there for scene work, Sherry Dayton and Michael Walters (Canadian Casting Directors) were there, and Ron Melrose (Music Director) was there to take me through the music. It ended up being about forty-five minutes of scene work and then we sang through just about everything, and did ranges all the way up and all the way down. We did so many different things the only thing I could think at the time was that they were just trying me out. I felt so good afterward and finally started thinking that maybe I could actually do this, and once I thought that I realized that I really WANTED to do it.  And then it all just went away.  It was over a month and I didn't hear anything.

Then I got a call for a final audition, or at least I thought it was the final, and it went really well.  I got some good feedback and so did my agent, but again everything got put on hold.  Then suddenly I got a call saying that they wanted to fly me to New York the next day, and I had to tell them that I couldn't because I had two shows the next day.  I remember asking what it was for.  At that point there was no Toronto company, so I was trying to figure out if it was for Broadway, or the tour, or what.  I had no idea.  My agent didn't know either, and I later found out it was for Frankie Camp.

Frankie Camp is basically where you get all these guys together and you are given a bit more information about the production and the casting people weed out the guys who are maybe not quite rock enough or pop enough.  To be honest, I don't really know what it's about because I never got to go.  I was bummed, I figured that was the end because I couldn't go.

But then I got another call, asking when I was free to fly down to New York. I gave them my dates, and soon after I was on a plane, auditioning for Director Des MacAnuf, the New York Casting Directors, and various Producers and interested parties. That audition went well. After that, I had to go back and audition for the real Bob Gaudio, and then the final 'final' audition was in front of Frankie Valli himself and Des. It was just the two of them about six feet away from me and a piano in the corner.  That is when I was the most nervous and probably sang my worst.  I remember Frankie saying something to Des, and Des saying to me "can you just take a couple of deep breaths, calm down and don't try and sing loud." I was basically panting back in agreement because of the nerves but I tried to do it again.  I didn't get a very good vibe, and I remember thinking that maybe Frankie didn't really like me.  But on the flight back home I got a text from my agent saying the news was going to be good.

Jeremy: It's hard for all of us, playing real life people, but can you imagine being Frankie? You have to sit in a room and watch some guy perform your stuff.  What if you don't like him? And then you must be thinking "This is really bad! I'm entrusting my life to this guy who is going to essentially become me eight times a week and he isn't any good!" (laughter)  

Jeff: I know, I totally felt like I was the biggest fraud.  The casting director was great and had me running through all these scenes involving heartache and break-ups and the guy who actually went through all of it is sitting right there and all I could feel was him watching me.  All I could think was that I was a fraud and a phony.  It was horrible.

Jeremy: The cool thing is that Des, who is the lynch pin for the show, is the one who got everyone together.  Having a Canadian Company of this show has been his pet project for as long as I can remember.  When I first started doing the show out of San Francisco I remember he was like "I want to do a Toronto Company, would you be interested?" And everytime I would see him after that, the opening in Chicago, and then Las Vegas, he would talk about it again.  He has been trying to get this company together for so long and I think he has done an incredible job.  He has got a great group of guys, they are my four favourite guys ever.  We really have become these characters. 

Jeff:  After I got the offer, my first day of rehearsal was seventeen days later.  That is tight.  And they needed me and the alternate (Adrian Marchuk) to go down to Nashville to work with Bob (Gaudio) before we started rehearsal because we needed to prep. Bob works with the Frankies on finding that Signature Sound, that quality that Frankie is known for which is very far from a musical theatre kind of sound. So, we fly down to New York for four hours to meet a few people, have some costume fittings and measurements, and then back on a plane to Nashville where we spent three days in a studio with Bob, a technician and a conductor from Broadway. Might I add, it wasn't like "let's learn this piece of music" either, it was really hard. It was, you get in the sound booth, put the headphones on, stare out and see Bob Gaudio on the other side of the glass, and then all of a sudden up comes the Original Broadway Cast recording, and then they just pull out John Lloyd Young's (the original Broadway Frankie) voice and say "Go!" All I could think was, are you kidding me? Your nerves are shot and Sherri comes out "Shhherrriii...." but you try. And it was a very difficult experience, as you are trying to force this sound out that you have never really done before, but then after three days it's amazing how far you have come.

Jeremy: Pretty exciting

Jeff: It was amazing

BWW: A lot of our readers have been asking and hoping for a Toronto Cast recording, is that something you guys think will happen?

Jeremy: I doubt it, but we would love to! Unfortunately, it just becomes a dollar and cents thing.  However, you can tell them that Jeff has his own CD on his website (www.jeffmadden.ca)  and I have a couple of CDs of my own on my website (www.jeremykushnier.com) .  So yeah, there is a little taste there.  And we are waiting for these other guys (points to Quinn and Michael) to put out some stuff of their own (laughter). 

Jeff: And on the Dancap website there are clips of some stuff we have done on television that you can view. http://www.dancapproductions.com/dancaptv/

Jeremy: But if enough people write in and request it, I'm sure someone will think about doing it. 

Jeff:  That would certainly be thrilling to do.  The show is great and people love it.  Why not? Why not give them what they want?

Take the opportunity to come and see the Canadian Production of Jersey Boys and see these guys in action! Jersey Boys is currently playing the Toronto Centre for the Arts.  Tickets start as low as $25 and are on sale through to June 28th, 2009.  They can be purchased online at www.jerseyboystoronto.com or via phone at 416-644-3665.

For more information, please visit www.dancaptickets.com

 

 

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