Due to overwhelming demand, the Tony, Olivier and Grammy Award-winning musical Jersey Boys will return to Dublin’s Bord Gáis Energy Theatre for a two-week run from Wednesday, March 6 to Saturday, March 16.
The jukebox musical tells the remarkable true story of the 1960s American rock ‘n’ roll group Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. Just four boys from New Jersey on the wrong side of the tracks, they ended up becoming one of the most successful bands in history.
Jersey Boys is packed with the group’s greatest hits including Beggin’, Sherry, Walk Like A Man, December, 1963 (Oh What a Night), Big Girls Don’t Cry, My Eyes Adored You, Let’s Hang On (To What We’ve Got), Bye Bye Baby, Can’t Take My Eyes Off You, Working My Way Back to You, Fallen Angel, Rag Doll and Who Loves You.
The show is presented in a documentary-style format that dramatizes the formation, success and eventual break-up of the band. It is structured as four “seasons”, each narrated by a different member of the group who gives his own perspective on its history and music.
Winner of Broadway’s Tony, London’s Olivier and Australia’s Helpmann Awards for Best New Musical, Jersey Boys has earned 57 major awards worldwide and has been seen by over 25 million people. Debuting on Broadway in 2005, the production closed in January 2017 as the 12th longest running show in the New York professional theatre scene’s history. It was also adapted into a Clint Eastwood directed film in 2014.
Jersey Boys first opened in London at the Prince Edward Theatre in March 2008 and moved to the Piccadilly Theatre in March 2014. The acclaimed West End production closed then in March 2017 following nine amazing years in the English capital.
During this time, the show earned rave reviews. Benedict Nightingale from The Times said, “Oh What a Night. There were times when I felt that the performers were making even the Beatles sound somewhat lacking in musical texture,” while Quentin Letts from The Daily Mail stated, “I thoroughly enjoyed it. This is a big thumper of a show with fantastic songs.”
The first UK and Ireland tour of the show was also a record-breaking success. It ran for 18 months, from September 2014 to March 2016.
At the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre, Jersey Boys’ stellar cast will include Michael Watson as Frankie Valli, and Simon Bailey, Declan Egan and Lewis Griffiths as Valli’s band mates Tommy De Vito, Bob Gaudio and Nick Massi. The actors have all previously performed their roles to great acclaim: Watson and Bailey in the West End, Egan in the West End and Australia, and Griffiths in the first UK and Ireland tour. Actor Dayle Hodge will return to the production also to play Valli at certain performances.
The Four Seasons were one of only two American groups (the other being the Beach Boys) to enjoy major chart success before, during, and after the British Invasion. The band’s original line-up was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990 and joined the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 1999. They are one of the best-selling musical acts of all time, having sold an estimated 100 million records worldwide.
Tickets for Jersey Boys are priced from €21 and are on sale through Ticketmaster outlets. This will be the third time the show returns to Dublin’s Bord Gáis Energy Theatre, attesting to how much Irish audiences have taken this musical to their hearts.
For information about Jersey Boys, visit Bord Gáis Energy Theatre’s site.
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