The award-winning jukebox musical telling the story of Frankie Valli And The Four Seasons is returning to Birmingham’s New Alexandra Theatre this month. Heather Kincaid caught up with Jersey Boys stalwart Michael Watson to find out more...

After three years playing Frankie Valli at London’s Piccadilly Theatre, as well as a stint understudying the role at the Prince Edward Theatre, actor Michael Watson has spent a considerable amount of time trying to get inside the head of the 1960s music icon.

But it seems he’s not quite finished with the character yet. With the smash-hit musical Jersey Boys kicking off a UK tour at the New Alex this month, Watson is now helping to bring the magic from the West End to the West Midlands. We caught up with him to find out more about the man behind the music, and the Four Seasons’ enduring appeal. 

“All of us playing the members of the Four Seasons have been in the show before, three of us in the West End,” he explains. “With this production, they’ve really taken their time and thought about who they wanted to be in it, since it’s going to be the only one in the UK when we take it out. Also, because the show hasn’t been running for a little while, I think it’s going to come back very fresh and with a really strong energy, kicking down the door of musical theatre.”

Watson isn’t the only one to have stuck with the show for a long time. His West End predecessor, Ryan Molloy, played the role for an impressive total of six years.

“I think for a male in the West End - especially of a certain height - it’s the ultimate role. Not only do you get to do a marathon sing, as an actor it’s hugely challenging because you never leave the stage, and you have to go from age 15 to 45 in the space of two-and-a-half hours. It’s like the musical theatre equivalent of Hamlet - it’s a true arc of someone’s life you have to go through.”

The extensive period of time the story covers is a crucial part of what holds its actors’ interest. As they themselves grow older, their understanding of the characters’ journey deepens.

“Now that I’m 30, I’m right in the middle of that age range, and starting a family of my own, so I do feel a deeper connection to the scenes where Frankie interacts with his wife and children. I think I play it more honestly because I know how I’d feel if something like that happened to me.”

The need for this emotional range and maturity might go some way to explaining why Watson was unsuccessful in his first audition for the part at the tender age of 21. 

“At the time I felt like they were just starting to get excited about me, but then I did another round and the audition just suddenly stopped. It was a couple of years later when the next opportunity came up, but instead of being put off, the knock had actually made me more determined. I thought, if I could get them interested two years ago, I’m definitely ready for it now!”

It’s a unique and doubtless strange experience to perform the life story of a person who’s not only real, but still alive and taking an interest in the show.

“I was actually lucky enough to meet Frankie - he came and watched me in the show, and fortunately he shook my hand and gave me his seal of approval. But I think for me, it was more about developing the character that’s in the script, because as much as I might try to emulate the legend that is Frankie Valli, I don’t want to do an impression.”

Indeed, inaccuracies - or at least differences of opinion - are at the very heart of this story. Jersey Boys is famous for its ‘Rashomon effect’ - that is, presenting differing accounts of events from a variety of perspectives. Inspired by the lack of information available about the band members outside their glittering pop career, scriptwriters Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice based the novel format on interviews they conducted with the surviving members, complete with contradictions.

“Everyone remembers it differently, as they say. I think there’s an overarching story that’s true, but the way each character tells it in their monologues might stretch the truth a bit. But it’s more complex than that because you’re getting different age perspectives as well. I think that’s the best thing about the show - it takes you through the four seasons. So when you’re with Tommy at the beginning in spring, everything has this kind of wide-eyed quality about it because they’re all very young. Then in summer, it’s all bright and fun and the band is very successful, and in autumn, we have this crash where everything starts to go wrong. Eventually, you get to winter, where it’s much darker, with Frankie trudging along doing all these gigs to pay off debts.”

Much has been said about the Four Seasons as a ‘blue collar’ band, speaking to the experiences of America’s urban working-class. Yet at the same time, their appeal clearly reaches beyond national borders, and even across generations.

“Sometimes after a show, you’ll have someone who’s about 15 come up to you and say how much they loved it, but then you’ll also meet someone who’s 65 or 70, who’s excited to have relived the songs from their childhood. I think if you asked Frankie or Bob Gaudio, they’d tell you that this show has brought their music to the masses again, and made it bigger than they ever expected it to be at this point. But a big part of the appeal is just that the songs are so beautifully simple and elegant. If you look at Sherry, for example, it’s about asking someone out, which is something anyone can relate to. And they’re so catchy! Start singing Sherry to anyone, and they’ll sing the repeat back to you.”

Jersey Boys shows at Birmingham’s New Alexandra Theatre from Saturday 16 December until Saturday 6 January