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Jersey Boys
''Jersey Boys'' is a jukebox musical with music by Bob Gaudio, lyrics by Bob Crewe, and book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice. It is presented in a documentary-style format that dramatizes the formation, success and eventual break-up of the 1960s rock 'n' roll group The Four Seasons. The musical is structured as four "seasons", each narrated by a different member of the band who gives his own perspective on its history and music. Songs include "Big Girls Don't Cry", "Sherry", "December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)", "My Eyes Adored You", "Stay", "Can't Take My Eyes Off You", " Walk Like A Man", "Who Loves You", "Working My Way Back to You" and " Rag Doll", among others. The musical premiered at the La Jolla Playhouse in 2004 and ran on Broadway from 2005 to 2017, and since its debut it has been on two North American national tours and two national tours of the UK and Ireland. There have been productions of the show in London's West End, Las Vegas, Chicago, Toronto, Melbourne ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bob Gaudio
Robert John Gaudio (born November 17, 1942) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer, and the keyboardist and backing vocalist of the pop/rock band the Four Seasons. Gaudio wrote or co-wrote and produced the vast majority of the band's music, including hits like "Sherry" and "December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)". Though he no longer performs with the group, Gaudio and lead singer Frankie Valli remain co-owners of the Four Seasons brand. Biography Early career Born in the Bronx, New York, Gaudio was raised in Bergenfield, New Jersey, where he attended Bergenfield High School. Rotella, Mark"Straight Out of Newark" ''The New York Times'', October 2, 2005. Accessed October 9, 2007. "Originally from the Bronx, Mr. Gaudio had, at age 15, written the hit "Who Wears Short Shorts", which he made up while driving with friends along the main drag in Bergenfield." His mother worked for the publishing house Prentice Hall and his father in a paper factory. He showed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
My Eyes Adored You
"My Eyes Adored You" is a 1974 song written by Bob Crewe and Kenny Nolan. It was originally recorded by The Four Seasons in early 1974. After the Motown label balked at the idea of releasing it, the recording was sold to lead singer Frankie Valli for $4000. After rejections by Capitol and Atlantic Records, Valli succeeded in getting the recording released on Private Stock Records, but the owner/founder of the label, Larry Uttal, wanted only Valli's name on the label. The single was released in the US in November 1974 and topped the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in March 1975. "My Eyes Adored You" also went to number 2 on the Easy Listening chart. ''Billboard'' ranked it as the No. 5 song for 1975. The single was Valli's first number 1 hit as a solo artist on Billboard's Hot 100, and remained there for one week, being knocked out of the top spot by another Crewe/Nolan-penned song, "Lady Marmalade" by Labelle. Although it was released as a Valli solo effort, the song is sometimes include ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tommy DeVito (musician)
Gaetano "Tommy" DeVito (June 19, 1928 – September 21, 2020) was an American musician and singer, best known as a founding member, vocalist, and lead guitarist of rock band the Four Seasons. Early years DeVito was born in Belleville, New Jersey, United States, the youngest of nine children in an Italian-American family. At eight years old, he taught himself to play his brother's guitar by listening to country music on the radio. By the time he was 12, he was playing for tips in neighborhood taverns. He quit school after the eighth grade. (Belleville High made him an honorary graduate in 2007.) By 16, he had his own R&B band and was making $20 or $25 a night. Career DeVito's musical career began in the early 1950s when he formed "the Variety Trio" with his brother Nick DeVito and Hank Majewski. This core group performed under various names and changing lineups. The band expanded to a quartet and changed its name to "the Variatones" including the addition in 1954 of singer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frankie Valli
Francesco Stephen Castelluccio (born May 3, 1934), better known by his stage name Frankie Valli, is an American singer, known as the frontman of the Four Seasons beginning in 1960. He is known for his unusually powerful lead falsetto voice. Valli scored 29 top 40 hits with the Four Seasons, one top 40 hit under the Four Seasons alias the Wonder Who?, and nine top 40 hits as a solo artist. As a member of the Four Seasons, Valli's number-one hits include "Sherry" (1962), "Big Girls Don't Cry" (1962), " Walk Like a Man" (1963), " Rag Doll" (1964) and "December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)" (1975). Valli's recording of the song "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" reached number two in 1967. As a solo artist, Valli scored number-one hits with the songs "My Eyes Adored You" (1974) and " Grease" (1978). Valli, Tommy DeVito, Nick Massi and Bob Gaudio the original members of the Four Seasons were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990 and the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 1999. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large national audience. Daily broadsheet editions are printed for D.C., Maryland, and Virginia. The ''Post'' was founded in 1877. In its early years, it went through several owners and struggled both financially and editorially. Financier Eugene Meyer purchased it out of bankruptcy in 1933 and revived its health and reputation, work continued by his successors Katharine and Phil Graham (Meyer's daughter and son-in-law), who bought out several rival publications. The ''Post'' 1971 printing of the Pentagon Papers helped spur opposition to the Vietnam War. Subsequently, in the best-known episode in the newspaper's history, reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein led the American press's investigation into what became known as the Watergate scandal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
ABBA
ABBA ( , , formerly named Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Anni-Frid or Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Frida) are a Swedish supergroup formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. The group's name is an acronym of the first letters of their first names arranged as a palindrome. One of the most popular and successful musical groups of all time, they became one of the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling music acts in the history of popular music, topping the charts worldwide from 1974 to 1982, and in 2022. In Eurovision Song Contest 1974, 1974, ABBA were Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest, Sweden's first winner of the Eurovision Song Contest with the song "Waterloo (ABBA song), Waterloo," which in 2005 was chosen as the best song in the competition's history as part of the Congratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest, 50th anniversary celebration of the contest. During the band's main active years, it ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michael David (producer)
Michael David is a Broadway producer, the co-founder of and a partner in Dodger Theatricals. His productions on Broadway include ''Jersey Boys'', ''Matilda The Musical'', ''The Farnsworth Invention'', ''The Secret Garden'', ''Into the Woods'', and the revival of ''The Music Man''. Prior to his work with Dodger Theatricals, he was the executive director of the Chelsea Theater Center of Brooklyn. References **'' Chelsea on the Edge: The Adventures of an American Theater,'' Napoleon, Davi. Iowa State University Press , 1991. A chronicle of the onstage productions and offstage troubles at the Chelsea Theater Center. **''Contradictions: Notes on twenty-six years in the theatre'' (Hardcover), Prince, Harold. Dodd, Mead , 1974 autobiography features a chapter on his production of Candide at the Chelsea Theater Center. **Hewes, Henry. "An Egoless Theater. " in ''Saturday Review'', 29 July 1972, p. 66 **Napoleon, Davi. "Staging the Unexpected at the Chelsea Theater Center." in ''Sh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Des McAnuff
Desmond Steven McAnuff (born June 19, 1952) is the American-Canadian former artistic director of Canada's Stratford Festival and director of such Broadway musical theatre productions as '' Big River'', ''The Who's Tommy'' and ''Jersey Boys''. Biography Born in Princeton, Illinois to John Nelson and Ellen Boyd, McAnuff is a citizen of United States and Canada. He lived briefly in Guelph, Ontario, attending grade 4 at St. George's Public School. His family then moved to Scarborough, Ontario, at the time a suburb of Toronto, and attended high school at Woburn Collegiate Institute where he made his first theatrical appearance in the school's production of ''The Sound of Music'', playing the role of Kurt. Later, with the help of two friends, he wrote the music and lyrics to a rock musical called ''Urbania'', which was performed by the high school drama club. He attended Ryerson Polytechnical Institute, but never completed his degree. In June 2011, he was awarded an honorary degree ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in Midtown Manhattan. The awards are given for Broadway productions and performances. One is also given for regional theatre. Several discretionary non-competitive awards are given as well, including a Special Tony Award, the Tony Honors for Excellence in Theatre, and the Isabelle Stevenson Award. The awards were founded by theatre producer and director Brock Pemberton and are named after Antoinette "Tony" Perry, an actress, producer and theatre director who was co-founder and secretary of the American Theatre Wing. The trophy consists of a spinnable medallion, with faces portraying an adaptation of the comedy and tragedy masks, mounted on a black base with a pewter swivel. The rules for the Tony Awards are set forth in the off ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rag Doll (The Four Seasons Song)
"Rag Doll" is a popular song written by Bob Crewe and Bob Gaudio. It was recorded by the Four Seasons and released as a single in 1964. Background According to songwriter Bob Gaudio, the recording was inspired by an occasion involving the homeless children who, at stop lights in the city, would run into the street and clean windshields for spare change. In the Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan neighborhood, a young girl with a dirty face and wearing ragged clothes approached Gaudio's automobile. When he reached into his wallet to pay her, he found that none of the notes were smaller than $10. He gave the girl a $10 bill. (Some accounts indicate that it was a $5 bill.) "The image of her stuck in my head until I wrote 'Rag Doll'", Gaudio recalled in a 2009 interview. ''Billboard'' described the song as a "sentimental slow dance ballad." ''Cash Box'' described it as "a touching, cha cha beat opus...that the group serves up in their fabulous style" and that features the "hit sounds" of Fr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Working My Way Back To You
"Working My Way Back to You" is a song made popular by The Four Seasons in 1966 and The Spinners in 1980. Written by Sandy Linzer and Denny Randell, the song was originally recorded by The Four Seasons in 1966, reaching No. 9 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100. In the UK Top 50 chart it spent three weeks – all at No. 50. It is the only hit to feature the group's arranger Charles Calello in the temporary role of bassist/bass vocalist, having replaced original member Nick Massi. The lyrics tell about a man who cheated on his girlfriend. When she leaves, he realizes that he did love her and is very remorseful about his past actions. He vows to win her love back. It is in some ways a re-casting of the melody from their previous hit, "Let's Hang On!". ''Cash Box'' described it as a "raunchy, blues-drenched ode about a love-sick fella who hopes to be re-united with his ex-gal," and said that it has "money-in-the-bank-sound." Charts The Spinners version In 1979 American soul an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Who Loves You (song)
"Who Loves You" is the title song of a 1975 album by The Four Seasons. It was composed by Bob Gaudio and Judy Parker and produced by Gaudio. It reached number 3 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in November 1975.Joel Whitburn, ''The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits'' (5th edition), Billboard Books 1992 Fred Bronson, ''The Billboard Book of Number One Hits'' (3rd edition), Billboard Books 1992 Song information After their release from Philips, the group signed with Motown and released one album and three singles for the organization in 1972 and 1973. All Motown recordings failed to chart in the U.S. and the company dropped the band. In August 1975, "Who Loves You" entered the Hot 100 as Frankie Valli's " Swearin' to God" was sliding off the chart. This was the final Four Seasons hit featuring bassist and backing vocalist Joe Long. Reception ''Cash Box'' called it "a high-energy, commercially potent disk with high vocal work and sweet strings — and a rhythm that can make time in any di ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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