While Jersey Boys is about The Four Seasons, it also tells the individual tales of Frankie Valli, Bob Gaudio, Tommy DeVito and Nick Massi and 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. Jersey Boys debuted at the La Jolla Playhouse on October 5, 2004, where it became the most successful production in the history of the playhouse, extending three times. The show continues to set new weekly box office records at the August Wilson Theatre on Broadway, where it has remained among the top five grossing shows in New York since opening to critical acclaim in November 2005. The national tour of Jersey Boys opened to rave reviews at the Curran Theatre in San Francisco in December 2006 and was followed by a sold-out run in Los Angeles. Minneapolis joins a select group of cities including Chicago, Houston, Cincinnati and Seattle in hosting this phenomenal production.

The cast of Jersey Boys will be led by Erik Bates (Tommy DeVito), Steve Gouveia (Nick Massi), Christopher Kale Jones (Frankie Valli) and Andrew Rannells (Bob Gaudio) as The Four Seasons, with Jonathan Hadley and Joseph Siravo. The ensemble members of Jersey Boys include Miles Aubrey, Matt Bailey, Holly Ann Butler, Sarah Darling, Christopher DeAngelis, Jamie Karen, Nathan Klau, Brandon Matthieus, Michael Pearce, Zachary Prince, Nathan Scherich, Brian Silverman, Courter Simmons, Taylor Sternberg and Kara Tremel.

Featuring music by Gaudio, lyrics by Bob Crewe and choreography by Sergio Trujillo, the Jersey Boys design and production team is comprised of 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 and incidental music).

Jersey Boys is produced by Dodger Theatricals, Joseph J. Grano, Tamara and Kevin Kinsella and Pelican Group, with Latitude Link and Rick Steiner. “Jersey Boys: The Story of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons” (Broadway Books) is the official handbook to the smash Broadway hit. For more information, visit www.jerseyboysinfo.com and for ticketing tips go to www.jerseyboysinfo.com/tour/minneapolisTips.

TICKET INFORMATION
Individual tickets for Jersey Boys are on sale now and range in price from $28.50 to $83, depending upon performance time and seating preference. A limited number of premium seats are available for $133.50. All prices include applicable facility fees. Additional charges may apply. Tickets may be purchased in person at the State Theatre Box Office (805 Hennepin Avenue, Minneapolis, 55402), online at HennepinTheatreDistrict.org or through Ticketmaster: 612-673-0404 or ticketmaster.com.

Performance dates for Jersey Boys are Wednesday, March 19 (preview). through Sunday, April 20, 2008 at the Orpheum Theatre, 910 Hennepin Avenue, Minneapolis, 55403. Show times are Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at 7:30 p.m.; Friday at 8 p.m.; Saturday at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m.; and Sunday at 1 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. There will be two additional matinee performances on Thursday, March 27 and Thursday, April 17 at 2 p.m. There will not be a 6:30 p.m. performance on Sunday, April 20. Groups of 20 or more should call 612-373-5665 for information and reservations.

CRITICAL PRAISE:
“The crowd goes wild. I’m talking about the real crowd at the August Wilson Theatre, who seem to have forgotten what year it is or how old they are or, most important, that John Lloyd Young is not Frankie Valli. And everything that leads up to the curtain call feels as real and vivid as the sting of your hands clapping together.” –Ben Brantley, The New York Times

“The most exciting musical Broadway has seen in years! A dazzling piece of conceptual direction by Des McAnuff, shrewdly penned by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice, this endlessly savvy production works the audience up into such high stakes lather that the on-stage performances of boffo songs become catharses. You don’t ever want to look away.” –Chris Jones, The Chicago Tribune

“It all starts and ends with the book, and this one by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice is a winner. It’s the funny, original and moving way this story is told that makes it stand out. The versatile ensemble is first-rate. Jersey Boys works because its collaborators –those both on and offstage – found themselves in perfect harmony.” –Roma Torre, NY1 News

BIOGRAPHIES:
Marshall Brickman (Book) Films (author or co-author): “Sleeper,” “Annie Hall” (Academy Award), “Manhattan,” “Manhattan Murder Mystery,” “For the Boys” and “Intersection.” As writer/director: “Simon,” “Lovesick,” “The Manhattan Project” and “Sister Mary Explains it All.” Television: “The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson” (head writer) and the ABC “Dick Cavett Show” (head writer/co-producer, two Emmy Awards). Brickman entered show business as a musician with the folk group The Tarriers and then, with John and Michelle Phillips, formed the pre-Mamas and Papas group The New Journeymen. Brickman’s recording (with Eric Weissberg) of the soundtrack of “Deliverance” earned gold status twice. He has published in The New York Times, The New Yorker, Playboy and other periodicals and was the 2006 recipient of the Writers’ Guild of America’s Ian McClellan Hunter Award for Lifetime Achievement. Jersey Boys is his first venture into musical theatre.

Rick Elice (Book) Jersey Boys, Elice’s first Broadway credit, won the 2006 Tony Award for Best Musical. How cool is that? From 1982-2000, as creative director at Serino Coyne Inc., he produced ad campaigns for some 300 Broadway shows, from A Chorus Line to The Lion King. Since 2000, he has served as creative consultant for the Walt Disney Studio. B.A., Cornell University, M.F.A., Yale Drama School, Teaching Fellow, Harvard University, charter member, American Repertory Theatre. In 2003, he appeared off-Broadway in Elaine May’s comedy Adult Entertainment. With Marshall Brickman and Andrew Lippa he is currently writing a musical based on “The Addams Family.” Rick saw his first Broadway show when he was three. His mother said he was very well-behaved. From that day, he dreamed of working in the theatre. From the age of 19, he has. Heartfelt thanks to those he’s been lucky enough to know, whose work makes him grateful for the day he was born: Sondheim, Stoppard, Bennett, Prince, Fosse, Robbins, Nichols, Tune, Nunn, Laurents, Stone, Kushner, Taymor, Papp, Schumacher, Schneider, Coyne, Brickman and Rees.

Bob Gaudio (Composer) wrote his first hit, “Who Wears Short Shorts,” at 15, for the Royal Teens, and then went on to become a founding member of the Four Seasons and the band’s principal songwriter. He also produced the hit “You Don’t Bring Me Flowers” for Neil Diamond and Barbra Streisand (Grammy nomination, Record of the Year) as well as six albums for Diamond, including “The Jazz Singer.” Other producing credits include albums for Frank Sinatra, Marvin Gaye, Diana Ross, Michael Jackson and the soundtrack for the film version of “Little Shop of Horrors.” Several songs co-written with Bob Crewe have been cover hits for such artists as the Tremeloes (“Silence Is Golden”), the Walker Brothers (“The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore”) and Lauryn Hill (“Can’t Take My Eyes Off You”). With his wife, Judy Parker, Gaudio produced and co-wrote the “Who Loves You” album for the Four Seasons and one of Billboard’s longest charted singles (54 weeks), “Oh, What a Night.” A high point in his career came in 1990 when, as a member of the original Four Seasons, Gaudio was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 1995, he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, which hailed him as “a quintessential musicmaker.” To this day, Bob Gaudio and Frankie Valli still maintain their partnership…on a handshake.

Bob Crewe (Lyricist) Crewe and music partner Frank Slay became independent writer-producers when the category hadn’t yet been invented. In 1957 they wrote and produced “Silhouettes” for The Rays, skyrocketing to #1. Suddenly, producers in demand, they launched Freddie Cannon’s “Tallahassee Lassie” and Billy and Lillie’s “Lah Dee Da.” Crewe’s 1960’s solo unprecedented producing success with The Four Seasons created a new sound, striking a major chord in American pop. “Sherry,” “Big Girls Don’t Cry,” “Walk Like a Man,” “Candy Girl” and “Ronnie” – all smashes! When lead Frankie Valli demanded a solo turn, Crewe and Bob Gaudio wrote and Crewe produced “Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You,” which eventually became the century’s fifth most-played song. Crewe ran hot with artists from Vicki Carr to Oliver and Lesley Gore to Mitch Ryder, co-writing with Charles Fox the soundtrack for Jane Fonda’s film, “Barbarella.” Then his own Bob Crewe Generation exploded with “Music To Watch Girls By.” In 1972, Bob was in Los Angeles, where he revived Frankie Valli with “My Eyes Adored You” by Crewe and Kenny Nolan. They also co-wrote Patti LaBelle’s “Lady Marmalade” (#1, July ’75) – to re-hit again from the soundtrack of Moulin Rouge (#1, June ’01).

Des McAnuff (Director) is a two-time Tony Award-winning director and was recently named Co-Artistic Director of the Stratford Festival of Canada. He is Director Emeritus of La Jolla Playhouse, which he has headed for much of the past 25 years. Under his leadership, La Jolla Playhouse garnered over 300 theatre awards, including the 1993 Outstanding Regional Theatre Tony Award. Recent productions directed at the Playhouse: The Wiz (2006), Zhivago (2005), Palm Beach (2005), Private Fittings (2005), Tom Donaghy’s Eden Lane (2003), Tartuffe (2002) and Michael Ondaatje’s The Collected Works of Billy the Kid (2001). Playhouse to Broadway credits: Jersey Boys, Billy Crystal’s 700 Sundays (Broadway 2004, Tony Award), Dracula: The Musical (2004), How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (1995), The Who’s Tommy (director/co-author with Pete Townshend, 1993 Tony Award Best Director of a Musical, 1997 London Olivier Awards Best Director/Best Musical), A Walk in the Woods (1988) and Big River (1985, seven Tonys including Best Director of a Musical and Best Musical). Film credits: “Cousin Bette,” “The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle” (director), “Iron Giant” (producer) and “Quills” (executive producer). Upcoming: Aaron Sorkin’s “The Farnsworth Invention.”

Sergio Trujillo (Choreographer) Broadway: Tony Award-winning Jersey Boys (Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle nominations) and All Shook Up. New York City credits: The Public Theater’s Romeo and Juliet (Delacorte Theatre), Kismet, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Encores!), The Great American Trailer Park Musical, Bare and Salome (New York City Opera). International credits: Disney’s Tarzan (Holland), Peggy Sue Got Married (London), West Side Story, The Sound of Music (Stratford Festival), Kiss Me, Kate and Twelfth Night (Tokyo). Additional theatre credits: Mambo Kings, The Wiz and Zhivago (La Jolla Playhouse), Kiss of The Spider Woman, Le Nozze di Figaro (Los Angeles Opera), Hoy Come Ayer (Ballet Hispanico) and Chita Rivera’s Chita and All That Jazz. TV: “Broadway: The American Musical” and “The 14th American Comedy Awards” starring Nathan Lane. 2003 Ovation Award in Los Angeles, three Dora Mavor Moore Award nominations for choreography in Canada and Stiching Musical Award in Europe. Upcoming: Saved (Playwrights Horizons), Zhivago (West End), The Wiz (Broadway) and The Addams Family (Broadway).

HENNEPIN THEATRE TRUST
Hennepin Theatre Trust is a 501(c)(3) non-profit charitable trust that engages community members in a diverse array of live performances and education experiences, oversees the operation and preservation of the State, Orpheum and Pantages Theatres and contributes to the economic vitality of the Hennepin Theatre District. The Trust’s annual presentations include Broadway touring productions, the National Geographic Live! Speaker’s Series and an eclectic range of variety entertainment including theatre, dance, comedy and music. The Trust’s additional community programming includes its SpotLight Musical Theatre Program, Critical View (a student reviewer program), the Starbucks Ticket Access Program and Kids’ Night on Broadway. Over 500,000 patrons visit the Trust’s State, Orpheum and Pantages Theatres annually.

BROADWAY ACROSS AMERICA
Broadway Across America presents first-rate touring Broadway shows, family productions and other live theatrical events throughout a network of 42 North American cities. A leader in subscription series programs and group ticketing, Broadway Across America is dedicated to creating memorable and accessible experiences for all guests, selling over five million tickets to over 3,000 performances each year. As a producer, current and recent Broadway productions include: Hairspray, Chicago, Monty Python’s Spamalot and The Producers. It also manages, operates or consults in the operation of eight theatres across North America. For more information or to purchase tickets through an authorized agent go to BroadwayAcrossAmerica.com.