Behind the scenes at Jersey Boys

The sensational Broadway hit Jersey Boys, celebrating the career of the Four Seasons, visits Oxford from next week, in a lavish new touring production guaranteed to pack in the punters.

Hit after glorious hit features in the show, including such iconic tracks as Sherry, Walk Like a Man, Rag Doll and December 1963 (Oh What a Night), the longest charting single in history.

But this is much more than a juke-box musical, for the songs of Bob Crewe and Bob Gaudio are cleverly placed in the context of a vivid biography of the band.

With a scrupulous attention to accuracy, the book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice does not hesitate in giving the dark side, including brushes with the law.

Lucky enough to see the production earlier in its run, at Milton Keynes, I was astonished to find, during a backstage tour, how the passion for authenticity is reflected; for instance, in the costumes.

Huge racks of them fill the space behind the scenery. They demand the attention of three full-time wardrobe staff, who have to wash 100 shirts a day.

One girl in the cast has 17 pairs of shoes in the show. One lad has nine different ties in act one alone. There are an astonishing 80 hair pieces, in the care of three wig staff.

So, with everyone looking good, how does it sound? In a word, brilliant. And that, of course, is owing as much as anything to the technical excellence of the actors playing the boys in the band.

Principal among these, of course, is Frankie Valli, he of the famed falsetto. What is it like to imitate one of the most famous voices in the business? Tim Driesen doesn’t pretend it’s easy, though he is naturally gifted with this unusual vocal attribute.

“I have always been able to sing falsetto,” he says, “but I never needed to before Jersey Boys.”

Tim came to the tour with the experience of having already played the part in Holland, one of a number of productions staged around the world.

But the story didn’t start there, because like every other Valli he was required to attend a dedicated ‘Frankie Camp’ in the US and be personally passed for suitability by Bob Gaudio of the band.

“You have to meet Bob first,” says Tim “In his presence, you have to try to forget you’re starstruck, as you appreciate that he’s a lovely, lovely guy.

But you have to pinch yourself and think you are in the studio with the guy who wrote all these hits.

“To have written just one of them, he could have made enough money to retire. There were so many, though.

“That’s the great thing about music. To get one hit is not hard, but to get hit after hit after hit over four decades; that is an enormous achievement.”

The Four Seasons/Frankie Valli back catalogue is so impressive that it’s instructive to note how many great songs had to be left out of Jersey Boys; “the ones that got away”, as the programme calls them.

They include I’ve Got You Under My Skin, The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore, a big hit in the UK for the Walker Brothers, Silver Star and Grease.

Tim’s vocal talents are heard at their best on Can’t Take My Eyes Off You, the incomparably lovely My Eyes Adored You and Working My Way Back to You, his own favourite number in the show.

Considerable work at Franke Camp went in to perfecting the Valli tones.

“You go to Nashville, because Frankie has a bit of a country twang to his voice. You take home tapes and CDs. They really care about getting it right.”

Last in Oxford nine years ago, in Starlight Express, Tim is looking forward to returning to the city.

“I particularly want get out on a punt again,” he says.

The close rapport between the principal guys in the show is evident during interviews that followed the Milton Keynes performance.

They are – besides Tim – Sam Ferriday, as Gaudio; Lewis Griffiths, as Nick Massi; and Stephen Webb as Tommy DeVito.

Stephen told me: “I always wanted to be in a boy band and this is the closest I have come to it so far.”

Jersey Boys
New Theatre, Oxford
May 12-23
Tickets: 0844 871 3020, atgtickets.com/oxford