Guest Blog: Blair Gibson On The JERSEY BOYS UK and Ireland Tour

Set in a northern pocket of New Jersey in a world before social media usurped dog as man's best friend, Jersey Boys can be summed up in one word: Famiglia. Before the touring starts and complaints of bed bugs and travel days take their toll, we've spent the last five weeks creating our family while learning, assembling, and mounting this show onto a stage ready to tour the country.

Jersey Boys means a great deal to me. When I first read the audition excerpts of the script I was instantly able to connect with something I hadn't felt with any show before. It was my hobby becoming my passion all over again; it was my love for the arts on a visceral level. That was back in the summer of 2018 when I was a 20 year old with no interest in doing cruise ships but every interest in doing a musical with dialogue I could sink my teeth into.

I love musical theatre - a gigantic tap number with sequins and glitter reflecting light into my entranced eyes is a perfect form of escapism - but I believe the book should always match that magic. I want to leave a theatre feeling some type of way because I ultimately cared for the characters and their stories. That's why I did two Jersey Boys contracts on Norwegian Cruise Line and why I came back to the show now for its third national UK tour: I care about the show and the characters and I hope you do, too.

Over the past three years I've had the pleasure of playing Bob Gaudio. His character is a pragmatist: he's always looking ahead and is driven by logic over emotion, which are traits I can personally tap into with a certain ease.

I had the honour of meeting the man himself via Zoom in the first week of rehearsals. I sang "Cry For Me", the song in our show where we first see Bob's musicality shine through and ignite something in each of the Four to-be Seasons, and he offered invaluable insight about that moment. The session was a fleeting five minutes but they are five minutes I won't soon forget. Seeing him continue to be so involved with the show and nurture his own legacy inspired me and I hope I can do him justice.

I really don't want to bring it up, but given that we're still in the midst of a pandemic I'd be remiss not to: Covid-19 has changed everything in our industry. Daily lateral flow testing, constantly inhaling the noxious scent of hand sanitiser, even allocating our own chairs to minimise risk of transmission are all part of the routine we adopt to be able to work in the business during this time.

Don't get me started on trying to dance and sing at the height of one's range through a face mask - I've choked on mine a dozen times and nearly fainted at least three! Although, that may be down to the fact that the most exercise I did in the 18 months pre-rehearsal was walking from the couch to the fridge then back to the couch. We're all balancing our work and personal lives, desperately trying to organise ourselves before we hit the road for a year. In spite of all this, we power on and spirits remain high during rehearsals.

What we call "Week Zero" consisted of the actors playing The Four Seasons meeting and learning the show's famous music and choreography separately before marrying them to create the framework of our Four Seasons. This week is really our opportunity to gel as people and actors and become our own band. The next week, the entire company met and we spent the first two and a half days learning music and blending our voices. Every vocal you hear in our show is 100% live.

In the days and weeks that followed we had costume fittings, cleaning calls, and my favourite part of any rehearsal process: a read-through. It's the time you get to sit back, listen to the text and watch the characters lift off the page and into the room from start to finish. We blocked the show with our director chronologically, which is super helpful in understanding the story. Their story is worth telling over and over again and I hope it continues to live on alongside their immortal music.

Thank you for reading and I hope you get the chance to see our show somewhere in the UK in over the next 18 months!

The Jersey Boys is touring the UK and Ireland, beginning at the New Wimbledon Theatre on 24 November. Find full dates and venues here

Photo: Darren Bell

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