Jersey Boys Standout Joseph Leo Bwarie on His Chocoholic Childhood & the Scariest Moment of His Life

Age: 36

Hometown: Sherman Oaks, CA

Current Role:  A showstopping Broadway debut as pitch-perfect Four Seasons frontman Frankie Valli in the Tony-winning musical Jersey Boys.

Stage Cred: Four years, 45 cities and over 1,000 performances as Frankie in the Jersey Boys national tour, originated the role of Chachi in the musical adaptation of Happy Days.

“I come from a retail family, so after school, I’d work at my dad’s store. There are pictures of me there at four, and apparently I decided my main job was to eat all the chocolate in the candy aisle.”

“My background is Lebanese and Syrian, which could definitely be confused for Italian—they're all about loud talking and big meals.”

“I played a homeless child on The Young and the Restless in the ‘80s. I sang 'Imagine' and I think it was Earth Day. Come on, it was a soap opera. John Lennon, homeless kid…it’s a tearjerker!”

“I was visibly shaking in my audition for Jersey Boys. The real Frankie Valli and Bob Gaudio were there, and It was the scariest. Definitely the most nerve-wracking scenario I’ve ever been in.”

“If I drink some milk, so what? If I have two drinks, so what? It's gonna be fine. Frankie's a singer and I'm a singer, and I just need to sing and do the songs justice. But do I yell and scream at a basketball game? No.”