Oh, What a Tour! Jersey Boys Celebrates 20 Years by Hitting the Road

Jersey Boys, the 2006 Tony-winning musical about the rise of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons, is hitting the road for its 20th anniversary tour across North America. Before the tour made its first stop in Syracuse, New York, Broadway.com spoke with the cast and creative team about the enduring music of the show and the opportunity to bring the story across the country.

“I just love that it's surprisingly timeless for a show that's written about a group that was big in the '60s, '70s and a little bit carried over into the '80s,” says Coby Oram, who plays Frankie Valli. “[It's for] people who are already fans of Jersey Boys and people who've never seen it before.”

Peyton Schoenhofer, who plays Bob Gaudio, didn't realize how well he knew the score until he dug into the show. “As I'm going through the show, I'm like, ‘Wait, I know every single one of these songs,’” he says. Owen McCredie, who plays Nick Massi, is now hearing those familiar songs in a new way thanks to his character. “It's an honor to sing these songs, especially when you're playing Nick Massi as I am, holding down the bass line in every harmony," he says. "You get to appreciate these songs in a new way because everyone knows what Frankie Valli's singing, but getting to come in and sing what Nick Massi is singing, you look at the song from a new perspective."

“It's a delight to see the audience respond to the songs, because you could pick another catalog,” says Ron Melrose, the original Jersey Boys musical director, who returns for the tour. “There have been so many musicals that get lumped into the category of jukebox musical. They start with the catalog of an artist or a group, but I think we help the songs as the songs help us by giving them such motivations and folding them into the story in such an interesting way.”

The rags-to-riches story of The Four Seasons is rooted in New Jersey, and Harry Sperduto, who plays Tommy DeVito, is excited to give audiences across North America a sense of where it all started. "Showing them this kind of little corner of the world and the culture that was happening in New Jersey at the time," he says, "it's so cool to bring that to somewhere where they might have no idea what it was like for these guys building the group and growing up in that area and the hard time they went through."

The Tony-winning musical will tour North America through 2027, bringing the Broadway experience to audiences across the country. Jason Winfield, who plays Gyp DeCarlo, appreciates what that access can mean. “A tour gives you a high-quality Broadway production that a lot of people maybe don’t have the opportunity to travel and go see,” he says. “Sometimes it’s a once-in-a-lifetime trip. We’re getting to bring that once-in-a-lifetime experience to them.”

The show features Four Seasons hits including “Sherry,” “Big Girls Don’t Cry,” “Walk Like a Man,” “December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)" and the irresistibly catchy "Beggin'," which the cast performed exclusively for Broadway.com.

Watch below!