Four New Seasons in London's JERSEY BOYS
by Best of Theatre Staff on Friday 29 January 2016, 11:06 am in West End News & Gossip
From Tuesday 15 March, there will be four new Seasons joining the cast of JERSEY BOYS at the Piccadilly Theatre ahead of its 8th Anniversary on 18 March. This is the first time since the show opened in London that all four Seasons have changed.
Jersey Boys is firmly established as one of the longest running and most popular shows in the West End.
The musical has now been seen by over 23 million people worldwide and celebrated its 10th anniversary on Broadway last November.
The new London cast will feature Matt Corner as Frankie Valli, Simon Bailey as Tommy De Vito, Declan Egan as Bob Gaudio and Matt Hunt as Nick Massi, with Dayle Hodge playing Frankie Valli at certain performances.
Matt Corner joins the West End cast direct from the record-breaking UK and Ireland touring production of JERSEY BOYS, where he played Frankie Valli to 5-star reviews. Previously in the West End, he played Galileo in We Will Rock You.
Simon Bailey’s extensive West End credits include I Can’t Sing! The X-Factor Musical, Pharaoh in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Enjolras in the 21st Anniversary cast of Les Misérables (Queen’s Theatre) and Raoul in The Phantom of the Opera. Simon is also a founder member of ‘Theatreland’s First Supergroup’, Teatro. Teatro achieved gold status with their eponymous debut album after just three weeks, making them one of the fastest selling musical theatre acts of all time.
Australian-born Declan Egan played Bob Gaudio in the Australian and New Zealand tour of JERSEY BOYS. Most recently, he appeared in the US Tour of The Book of Mormon. JERSEY BOYS at the Piccadilly Theatre marks his West End debut.
Fellow Australian Matt Hunt made his professional theatre debut in the Australian and New Zealand touring production of JERSEY BOYS and the London production also marked his West End debut. He originally joined the cast in 2014 as Norm Waxman.
Dayle Hodge joins the London cast straight from the UK & Ireland touring production of JERSEY BOYS, where he understudied and played Frankie Valli. His other West End credits include Les Misérables, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (original London cast) and Chip in the original London cast of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast.
Also joining the cast of JERSEY BOYS in London on 15 March will be Mark Dugdale, Leanne Garretty, Will Haswell, Mark Heenehan, Joe Maxwell, Nathaniel Morrison and Dan O’Brien, who will join Nicola Brazil, Stuart Dawes, Lucinda Gill, Nicky Griffiths, Mark Isherwood, Ben Jennings, Chris Stoddart, Helen Ternent and Ben Wheeler.
JERSEY BOYS opened in London at the Prince Edward Theatre in 2008 and moved to the Piccadilly Theatre in March 2014. The show completes its first, record-breaking tour of the UK and Ireland on 5 March.
JERSEY BOYS is the remarkable true story of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons and their rise to stardom from the wrong side of the tracks. These four boys from New Jersey became one of the most successful bands in pop history, were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and sold 175 million records worldwide, all before they turned 30. The show is packed with their 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.
Winner of Broadway’s Tony, London’s Olivier and Australia’s Helpmann Awards for Best New Musical, JERSEY BOYS is the winner of 57 major awards worldwide. As well as still running on Broadway and in the West End, and on tour in the UK and Ireland, JERSEY BOYS can be seen in Las Vegas and across the United States on its US National Tour.
JERSEY BOYS is written by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice, with music by Bob Gaudio and lyrics by Bob Crewe. The London production is staged by the entire original Broadway creative team, led by director Des McAnuff and choreographer Sergio Trujillo, with scenic design by Klara Zieglerova, costume design by Jess Goldstein, lighting by Howell Binkley, sound by Steve Canyon Kennedy and projection design by Michael Clark. The orchestrations are by Steve Orich and the music supervision and vocal arrangements by Ron Melrose.
JERSEY BOYS is produced in London by the Dodgers, with Joseph J. Grano, Tamara and Kevin Kinsella, Pelican Group, in association with Latitude Link, Rick Steiner, and a small clutch of UK colleagues.