Jersey Boys: Prepare for 'hit after hit, after hit'
“The selling point of this show is so much the music. Because the Four Seasons has this huge catalogue of songs."
Michael Buick knows a thing or two about Invercargill Musical Theatre shows.
After all his involvement stretches back 30 years now. Buick first got involved by playing piano in 1993.
“I think the show was Anything Goes that we were doing back then. So I played piano in the band and it stemmed from that point.
“Over the years I was playing in the band and then got the opportunity to lead a couple of theatre restaurants and then into the bigger shows.”
His latest role is as musical director for the Invercargill Musical Theatre’s production of Jersey Boys, which starts at the Civic Theatre in Invercargill on Friday night.
It will run through to July 22 with 12 shows all up.
Jersey Boys is a jukebox musical 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.
Given Buick’s history in the game, so to speak, when he says the audience is in for a treat over the next fortnight you take notice.
“The selling point of this show is so much the music. Because the Four Seasons has this huge catalogue of songs. I came across ones that I hadn’t realised were Four Seasons songs.
“We all know Sherry and Big Girls Don’t Cry and December ‘63. But I discovered that they originally wrote Bye Bye Baby which I always thought of as a Bay City Rollers song.”
“It’s just bringing back songs that we’ve heard for years…. It’s hit after hit, after hit.”
Buick is happy with where things are at as they have gone about putting the finishing touches on the show with four dress rehearsals this week.
“By Friday night everything should be in place.”
The journey to opening night started with casting in November before beginning rehearsals in April where they started learning the music.
“This one is quite a small cast. So on stage, I think there are about 17 or 18 cast members.
“Often, we’ve got a cast of about 40 but the way Jersey Boys is designed, it was originally done in San Fransico with a really small cast and everywhere it’s been done all over the world they’ve kept that feel to it.”
Pretty much the entire cast of Jersey Boys is made up of Southlanders, although Max Beal has come from Dunedin to play the role of Frankie Valli.
Beal has experience in that part, given he’s already filled the role during the Jersey Boys production in Dunedin.
While it might be a smaller cast than other productions the Invercargill Musical Theatre has put on, the share amount of volunteer work that’s gone in is impressive.
Buick estimates they’ve probably got over 100 people working on the show with many of that frantic work taking place in the background.
“We’ve got a cast of about 18, and 10 in the band. Then backstage there is an army of stage crew. People involved in lighting, sound; so, we are often talking over 100 people.”
“And it’s all volunteer hours for those people in those positions as well. Everyone is just working together to make sure what we put on stage is the best we can possibly offer.”
The reality is for the Invercargill Musical Theatre to continue to put on such high-quality productions in Invercargill it takes a lot of community support.
That comes through some financial support from the likes of the SBS Bank, ILT, and Community Trust South.
Although it also is reliant on Southlanders turning up to watch.
“The downside is these shows cost a lot of money. From royalties to sets to costumes, all of that sort of thing. The lighting and LED screens involved in this show is phenomenal.
“They look incredible, but it all comes at a cost. One of the upsides, when people in the community get behind these shows, is it gives us the opportunity to do something else big.
“There are shows coming on the horizon that I’m not in a position to be able to talk about what they are, unfortunately, but some of these big shows that come through we are talking half a million dollars, in terms of investment.
“To be able to say we did it in Invercargill here in Southland, using Southlanders, that’s pretty special.”
JERSEY BOYS PERFORMANCE DATES
July 7, 7.30pm
July 8, 4pm
July 9, 2pm
July 12, 7.30pm
July 13, 7.30pm
July 14, 7.30pm
July 15, 4pm
July 16, 2pm
July 19, 7.30pm
July 20, 7.30pm
July 21, 7.30pm
July 22, 4pm
Went to it tonight - great show