“Jersey Boys” is coming to a close on Broadway early next year, when “Dancing With the Stars” alum Mark Ballas will take the final bow in the iconic role of Frankie Valli.
Ballas takes over on October 18 — unfortunately, the long-running musical about the Four Seasons will shutter Sunday, January 15, 2017 after 4,642 performances at the August Wilson Theatre.
It’ll cap an impressive 11 years for the Tony, Grammy and Olivier Award-winning Best Musical.
Mauricio Pérez will continue to play the Valli role for certain performances during the week. Dominic Scaglione Jr.’s final performance as the lead will be Oct. 16.
“Jersey Boys” opened on Broadway November 6, 2005. It’s now the 12th-longest-running show in Broadway history, passing “Miss Saigon,” “42nd Street,” “Grease,” “Fiddler on the Roof” and “The Producers” along the way.
One of only five currently running shows to play beyond a decade on Broadway, “Jersey Boys” has set the box office record 30 times and is the longest-running tenant in the August Wilson Theatre’s (formerly the Virginia Theatre) nearly 100-year history.
“Jersey Boys” has grossed more $2 billion worldwide and has been seen by over 24 million people. The show originally premiered at the La Jolla Playhouse in 2004 before coming to Broadway the following year.
Internationally, “Jersey Boys” has been performed in 162 cities around the world and in 11 countries including Australia, South Africa, Singapore, Turkey, South Korea, Malaysia, The Netherlands and Japan. It has also been translated into Dutch, Korean and Swedish. “Jersey Boys” continues to tour throughout North America and the United Kingdom.
“Jersey Boys” is the behind-the-music story of Valli and The Four Seasons. The four fellas from New Jersey had a sound nobody had ever heard, and the radio just couldn’t get enough of. But while their harmonies were perfect on stage, off-stage it was a very different story.
The show features all their hits, including “Sherry,” “Big Girls Don’t Cry,” “Oh What A Night,” “Walk Like A Man,” “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” and “Working My Way Back To You.”
Clint Eastwood directed a movie version of the play — including Broadway’s original Valli, Tony winner John Lloyd Young — that was released in 2014 to mixed reviews and disappointing box office.
“Jersey Boys” is written by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice, with music by Bob Gaudio, lyrics by Bob Crewe, directed by Des McAnuff and choreographed by Sergio Trujillo. The production includes music supervision, vocal/dance arrangements and incidental music by Ron Melrose and orchestrations by Steve Orich.
It is produced on Broadway by Dodger Theatricals, Joseph J. Grano, Tamara and Kevin Kinsella, Pelican Group in association with Latitude Link, Rick Steiner/Osher/Staton/Bell/ Mayerson Group. Associate producers are Lauren Mitchell, Rhoda Mayerson and Stage Entertainment, and the executive producer is Sally Campbell Morse.
The current Broadway cast is led by Richard H. Blake (Tommy Devito), Matt Bogart (Nick Massi), Mauricio Pérez (Frankie Valli at certain performances), Dominic Scaglione Jr. (Frankie Valli at certain performances), Quinn VanAntwerp (Bob Gaudio) with Peter Gregus and Mark Lotito, and includes Candi Boyd, Jared Bradshaw, Stephen Cerf, John Edwards, Alayna Gallo, Jon Hacker, Leo Huppert, Rory Max Kaplan, Christopher Messina, Joe Payne, John Rochette, Sara Schmidt and Kara Tremel.