It's been nearly two years since its smash Broadway debut, but Academy Award-winning writer Marshall Brickman says he's still amazed at how popular "Jersey Boys" remains.
The musical story of singer Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons premieres in Chicago at the LaSalle Bank Theatre, 18 W. Monroe Ave., with the official press opening on Sunday.
Unlike Brickman's other projects, "Jersey Boys" has an energy and appeal that exceeds any "usual entertainment formula."
"When I was first asked to write this musical with Rick Elice, I didn't want to," says Brickman, 66, who won a 1977 Oscar for the "Annie Hall" screenplay he wrote with Woody Allen.
"I knew who Frankie Valli was, but I didn't care about writing his story for the stage."
After some pushing in 2003, Brickman reconsidered, and after negotiations for the rights to the group's song catalogue and some long writing months, the show was born.
The "Jersey Boys" are Valli, Bob Gaudio, Tommy DeVito and Nick Massi.
The musical uses the group's hit songs to tell how blue-collar boys from the wrong side of the tracks became one of the biggest American pop music sensations of all time.
Quartet members not only wrote their own songs and invented their own sounds, they also sold 175 million records worldwide, all before any of them reached age 30.
Brickman says he is excited to be in Chicago this weekend to attend the opening. Previews began Oct. 5, and the run is scheduled through April 13, 2008.
Brickman is especially excited about the cast, which was first featured in a tribute to HBO's "The Sopranos" at last month's Emmy telecast.
Chicago cast members are Drew Gehling as Bob Gaudio, Chicagoan Michael Ingersoll as Nick Massi, Jeremy Kushnier as Tommy DeVito and Jarrod Spector as Frankie Valli.
Brickman, whose legendary resume includes serving as head writer for "The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson" and "The Dick Cavett Show," is quite familiar with the music industry.
Early in his career, he was a member of the folk group the Tarriers and then, along with John and Michelle Phillips, was one of the New Journeymen, which re-emerged a year later (after Brickman left for a different career) as The Mamas and the Papas.
He then went on to work with Eric Weissberg to record the soundtrack for the 1972 film "Deliverance," including the famous "Dueling Banjos" instrumental, which helped the soundtrack achieve gold status twice.
"When we were writing 'Jersey Boys,' there were certain parts of this musical group's story that we opted not to include," Brickman said of the show that won four 2006 Tony Awards.
"Primarily, because there are men who are part of this story who own guns, some with permits and others without permits. But the story you see on the stage is true, and what unfolds is amazing."
Spector, 26, who plays the role of Valli, said "Jersey Boys" is much more than "just a jukebox musical."
"This is a real story that comes to life on stage as it's told, using the musical group's actual songs and the events that inspired those songs," he said.
Even though Spector, who was selected last March to become part of the second official "Jersey Boys" cast, has met the real Valli only "once or twice for about 15 minutes," he said he feels connected to the group because of its songs and the audience's warm reaction.
"By the (finale) of every one of our performances, the audience is on their feet ... and that shows the kind of connection that is established," Spector said.
"Outside of being at a major sporting event, I've never seen this kind of audience energy before, all of it directly fueled from this music."
