Oh What a Night: Spencer Plays Final Jersey Boys Performance Sept. 14
By Andrew Gans
14 Sep 2008
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J. Robert Spencer
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J. Robert Spencer, one of the original foursome of Broadway's Jersey Boys, plays his final performance as Nick Massi in the Tony-winning musical at the August Wilson Theatre Sept. 14.
Spencer, who created his role at the La Jolla Playhouse and subsequently on Broadway, will be succeeded by Matt Bogart, the Broadway actor recently seen as Lancelot in the national tour of Camelot.
Bogart will join the cast Sept. 30. In the interim the role will be played by John Leone.
Spencer will next be seen in Arena Stage's upcoming production of the recent Off-Broadway musical Next to Normal. The Michael Greif-directed musical, co-starring Alice Ripley, will play Nov. 21, 2008-Jan. 18, 2009 at Arena's temporary home in Crystal City, VA.
The Jersey Boys cast currently includes Sebastian Arcelus as Bob Gaudio, Christian Hoff as Tommy DeVito, Michael Longoria as Frankie Valli and Peter Gregus as Bob Crewe.
Jersey Boys, according to press notes, is "the story of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons: Frankie Valli, Bob Gaudio, Tommy DeVito and Nick Massi. It's a journey of 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 30."
The creative team includes Tony-winning director Des McAnuff and choreographer Sergio Trujillo as well as Klara Zieglerova (scenic design), Jess Goldstein (costume design), Howell Binkley (lighting design), 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 premiered at the La Jolla Playhouse in October 2004 before arriving in November 2005 at Broadway's August Wilson Theatre. The Broadway production garnered four Tony Awards: for stars John Lloyd Young and Christian Hoff, lighting designer Howell Binkley and for Best Musical.
The award-winning production features music by Bob Gaudio, lyrics by Bob Crewe and a book by Marshall Brickman & Rick Elice.
There are currently five productions of Jersey Boys: New York, London, Chicago, Las Vegas and the North American tour. A sixth production will open in Melbourne, Australia, in March 2009.
For more information visit www.JerseyBoysInfo.com.
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