Just Too Good to Be True! Casting Announced for Jersey Boys' West End Return

Oh what a night July 28 will be for this cast! The West End return of Jersey Boys is set to star fresh talents Ben Joyce as Frankie Valli, Adam Bailey as Bob Gaudio, Benjamin Yates as Tommy De Vito and Karl James Wilson as Nick Massi. The production is scheduled to officially open at the Trafalgar Theatre on August 10.

The cast will also include Ben Irish as Bob Crewe, Mark Isherwood as Gyp de Carlo, Koko Basigara as Lorraine, Melanie Bright as Mary Delgado, Carl Douglas as Norm/Hank, Matteo Johnson as Joe Pesci, Jacob McIntosh as Barry Belson, Helen Ternent as Francine, Elliot Allinson, Jack Campbell, Huon Mackley, Bonnie Page and Andy Smith.

This production marks Joyce's West End and professional stage debut. Bailey made his West End debut in The Book of Mormon and played Felicia/Adam in the national tour of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. Yates played and covered Fiyero in the U.K. and Ireland tour of Wicked. He also played Mungojerrie in Cats at the London Palladium and most recently played Doug/Mr Spencer in School of Rock at the Gillian Lynne Theatre. Wilson played the role of Johnny Castle in the U.K. tour of Dirty Dancing. He has also been seen on the national tours of both Jersey Boys and White Christmas.

Jersey Boys is a musical biography of the Four Seasons—the rise, the tough times and personal clashes and the ultimate triumph of a group of blue-collar boys who formed a singing group and reached the heights of rock 'n' roll stardom. Far from a mere tribute concert (though it does include numbers from the popular Four Seasons songbook), Jersey Boys gets to the heart of the relationships at the center of the group—with a special focus on frontman Frankie Valli, the small kid with the big falsetto.

With music by Bob Gaudio, lyrics by Bob Crewe, and a book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice, Jersey Boys won four 2006 Tony Awards, including Best Musical. It played for over 10 years on Broadway, becoming the twelfth longest-running Broadway show in history. The show first ran in London’s West End from March 18, 2008 until March 26, 2017; it won the 2009 Olivier Award for Best Musical. At the time of the Broadway shutdown, the show was playing off-Broadway at New World Stages and is set to return on November 15. A new film version starring Nick Jonas is in the works.