Jersey Boys stars Philip Bulcock, Ryan Molloy,
Stephen Ashfield and Glenn Carter
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The leads of the London production of
Jersey Boys have been announced. The Tony Award-winning musical will star Ryan Molloy, Stephen Ashfield, Glenn Carter and Philip Bulcock. The show will open at the West End’s Prince Edward Theatre on 18 March, 2008, following previews from 28 February.
Jersey Boys is the story of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons. It tells how a group of blue-collar boys from the wrong side of the tracks became one of the biggest American and international pop music sensations of all time. The show features the songs “Sherry,” “Walk Like A Man,” “December, 1963 (Oh What a Night),” “Big Girls Don’t Cry,” “My Eyes Adored You” and many more. The musical was written by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice, with music by Gaudio and lyrics by Bob Crewe. It will be staged by the entire original Broadway creative team, including director Des McAnuff and choreographer Sergio Trujillo.
Molloy, who will play Frankie Valli, starred in The Pickled Cerebrum at the Play House in Los Angeles, Macbeth at the Embassy Theatre London, Betrayal and The Merchant of Venice, both at the Workhouse Theatre in London. His musical credits include The Life of Stanley Bishop at the Edinburgh Festival, Bill and Ted also at the Edinburgh Festival, Taboo at the Venue in London, Jerry Springer The Opera at the Cambridge Theatre. He also played the lead role in the national tour of Tonight’s the Night, which toured Britain most of last year.
Ashfield, who will take on the role of Gaudio, made his West End debut as Boy George in Taboo, a role he repeated in the national tour. He played Basilio in the Music Theatre London adaptation of Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro at The Drill Hall and was seen in a compilation of new American musical theatre writing called 16 Gobs at The King’s Head. He has appeared in the Calibre Productions tour of Beyond Broadway and Kings of Swing, played the title role of Harry in the West End showcase of When Harry Met Barry and spent Christmas at the Watford Palace Theatre as Colin the Ploughboy in Mother Goose. He played the leading role in the Irish musical The Ha’penny Bridge in Cork and Dublin, before returning to the West End to play the leading role of Nick in Fame. He went on to appear at the New End Theatre in London in the new musical Tomorrow Morning.
Carter will play Tommy DeVito. The actor performed the title role in Jesus Christ Superstar at the Lyceum Theatre in the West End, a role which he then reprised on Broadway. Other theatre credits include Moonlanding, Merrily We Roll Along, Into The Woods, Arabian Nights, Macbeth and Company all for Derby Playhouse, Peter Hall’s production of As You Like It on tour and in America, Hamlet at the Ludlow Festival, Whistle Down The Wind at the Aldwych Theatre, Chess at the Prince Edward Theatre, Cats at the New London Theatre, Les Miserables at the Palace Theatre, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at the London Palladium and Grease at the Dominion Theatre amongst others.
Bulcock who will play Nick Massi, has appeared in stage productions of Golden Boy, Down the Road, Of Mice and Men, The Merchant of Venice and Romeo and Juliet. Film credits include Brothers, 28 Weeks Later and The Dark Knight, due out next summer. He began his career at the age of 16 at The National Youth Theatre of Great Britain, where he spent two seasons.