The actor will succeed Tony Award winner John Lloyd Young as Valli in the Tony-winning musical Jersey Boys at the August Wilson Theatre. Longoria, in a mass e-mail, said he will begin performances as Valli Nov. 27.
Michael Longoria created the role of Joey in Jersey Boys; he is also the understudy for the role of Frankie Valli. The actor has also been seen on Broadway in Hairspray and in regional productions of Peter Pan and Wendy (Barrymore nomination), Avenue X, West Side Story and A Chorus Line. Also a singer-songwriter, Longoria has performed at Joe's Pub, the Knitting Factory, the Cutting Room and CB's Gallery. His debut recording, "Under 1000 Shades of Blue" is available by visiting www.michaellongoria.com.
Young — who won the 2006 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical for his work in Jersey Boys — noted on his website that he "finishes his Tony-winning run as 'Frankie Valli' in the original Broadway cast of Jersey Boys Thanksgiving 2007." It was also recently announced that Young's co-star, Daniel Reichard, will depart Jersey Boys following the Jan. 6, 2008 performance.
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Des McAnuff (The Who's Tommy, Big River) directs the story of American pop group The Four Seasons — the highs, the lows and all in between — which comes to life in the musical Jersey Boys with the help of their hits "Sherry," "Big Girls Don't Cry," "Walk Like A Man," "December 1963 (Oh, What A Night)" and more. The show began on Broadway Oct. 4, 2005, and opened at the August Wilson Theatre Nov. 6. Jersey Boys features music by Bob Gaudio, lyrics by Bob Crewe, and a book by Marshall Brickman & Rick Elice. The production garnered four Tony Award wins for stars John Lloyd Young and Christian Hoff, lighting designer Howell Binkley and for the top prize Best Musical.
Young (The Drawer Boy, The Chosen at Paper Mill) joined the cast for the Broadway run. Original stars Hoff (The Who's Tommy), Daniel Reichard (Radiant Baby, The Thing About Men) and J. Robert Spencer (Side Show, Lucky Duck) reprise their roles from the La Jolla Playhouse world premiere.
Tickets to Jersey Boys at the August Wilson Theatre, 245 W. 52nd Street, are available by calling (212) 239-6200 or (800) 432-7250. For more information on all incarnations of the musical, visit www.JerseyBoysInfo.com.
