Places, Please!: Becoming a Jersey Boy

Places, Please!

Becoming a Jersey Boy

Daniel Robert Sullivan

Published by Iguana Books

460 Richmond St. West, Ste 401, Toronto, Ontario, M5V 1Y1

Copyright © Daniel Robert Sullivan, 2012

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Editor: Lisa Sparks

Front Cover Image: Andres Alvez, www.andresalvez.com

Front Cover Design: Lea Kaplan

EBook Layout Design: Sharlene Hopwood

Sullivan, Daniel Robert

          Places, please! [electronic resource] : Becoming a Jersey Boy / Daniel Robert Sullivan.

Electronic monograph.

Issued also in print format.

ISBN 978-0-9878267-4-9 (Kindle).--ISBN 978-0-9878267-3-2 (EPUB)

1. Sullivan, Daniel Robert.  2. Singers--United States--Biography.  

I. Title.

ML420.S949A3 2012                      782.1'4092                      C2011-907115-0 

Visit the Iguana Books website: www.iguanabooks.com

Foreword

I am very honored to be chosen by Daniel Robert Sullivan to introduce this new book describing his most fascinating, behind-the-scenes journey to becoming one of the leads in the smash production of
Jersey Boys
in Toronto, Canada.

I found that I could not put the book down. Daniel's personal story is tremendously inspiring — especially for anyone who wants to become an actor or member of the theatrical industry. I commend Daniel for having the foresight to keep a written journal documenting his experiences and feelings through the grueling audition process and on to becoming selected for his plum role; the type of role that comes around perhaps once or twice in a lifetime.

The honesty in his storytelling is most touching as we witness the personal sacrifices that he makes to be an actor, a profession that is usually more emotionally rewarding than it is financially. I love his passion for theatre. It is so earnest and simultaneously, slightly self-deprecating.

As the Canadian Producer of
Jersey Boys
, I had the pleasure of working with Daniel when my partner, Dodger Theatricals in New York, selected him to play the lead role of Tommy DeVito. I grew to know Daniel personally as a warm human being who truly loves life and his family. I would drop by his dressing room before the show on a regular basis. We became friends and Daniel would occasionally come over to my office — next door to the theatre — for coffee or lunch. We would talk about producing shows, as he always wanted to learn more about the business side of things.

After reading this book, my personal admiration increased significantly. His story provides a window into the many aspects of an actor’s day-to-day life that I was not aware of or appreciated. I learned how challenging it is, and what it
really
takes to become an actor. There are more downs than ups, but when you've landed a lead role and you are performing on stage in a show like
Jersey Boys
, you find the ride well worth it.

In Toronto, long before Daniel was offered the role of Tommy DeVito, there was a theatre monopoly in the city that I felt could be challenged. The vacuum created with the demise of Garth Drabinsky’s Livent, Inc. left the main stage of the Toronto Centre for the Arts virtually dark for ten years, with no Broadway shows, until Dancap Productions was created.

A decade ago, Toronto was ranked among the three most thrilling and vibrant live theatre cities on earth, not that far behind New York City and London. I got to know long-time producer Michael David, founder of Dodger Theatricals, through my experience with
Urinetown: The Musical
at Canadian Stage. Michael became my ally, partner, and friend in bringing
Jersey Boys
to Toronto. He, like myself, wanted to make a difference in the Toronto theatre landscape, believing that competition is good for the city and the country. Michael is in his late-sixties and his distinguished, yet bushy, beard makes him look like one of the guitar players from ZZ Top. He has more than a few battle scars from his years on Broadway and the wisdom of Noah. I was a producer who had no producing experience, yet I had the drive and good fortune to see his show become a huge success.

To compensate for my theatrical deficiencies, I put together a first-class team of very experienced people who had worked at Livent. Led by Peter Lamb, my executive vice president, I could not be in the business without this incredible team. They all have a sincere and continuing passion for the business of theatre and a strong desire to participate in the journey, opportunity, and adventure of bringing great theatre to the city of Toronto.

Everyone in the theatre crew at the Toronto Centre for the Arts — those in wardrobe, wigs, props, stage management, marketing, sales, the actors, the musicians — all had a singular goal in mind: to make
Jersey Boys
as successful as possible, while still having fun. The talent and the enthusiasm were off the charts! People not only loved their jobs, but their collaboration, performance after performance, was remarkable. It seemed life could not get any better. The relationships and bonds that were made, on and off the stage, will be everlasting. There was no visible hierarchy between the different positions, including mine. I was more than content to be one of the crew! We wanted to perform to the best of our ability and keep the show running as long as we could.

Each performance was unique; as was each audience, and we loved them all.. The entire company wanted to know, “What’s the audience going to be like today? Are they going to be excited, happy, quiet?” Some came to see Jersey Boys more than a hundred times and seeing the show multiple times became a badge of honor. The actors would always take the time to meet with their superfans outside the stage door or connect with them on Facebook, because they knew that they were the people who helped keep the flame of
Jersey Boys
alive.

Then came the day in July 2010, when Michael David and I decided that, after one million people had seen
Jersey Boys
, we had reached the outer ring of what I call the concentric circle of theatregoers in Toronto and had to close the show on August 22nd, 2010, exactly two years after it opened. We both knew that American visitors were no longer coming to Toronto, a passport became required — 65% of Americans didn’t have one — and the Canadian exchange rate was not as favorable as in the past.. Once we had made this decision and started to advertise the show was ending, all those that had been on the fence about seeing it started coming in droves.

The final performance of
Jersey Boys
in Toronto was like a reverse opening. We had a theatre full of dedicated
Jersey Boys
fans who knew all the lines of the show, were singing all the lyrics, and were going crazy throughout. The audience went absolutely insane and the standing ovation that night lasted ten minutes. It was the climax of reviving a dark theatre, restoring its purpose and glory, and indeed, having a profound effect on those that worked in it directly or indirectly — and especially those that attended.

Daniel Robert Sullivan is now in the history books of theatre in Toronto, having played the role of Tommy DeVito in
Jersey Boys
. The show holds the record for the longest running show at the Toronto Centre for the Arts, beating out mega-hits
Showboat
,
Ragtime
, and
Sunset Boulevard
. Daniel’s dream, like mine, became a reality, which is now etched into our mind, body, and soul forever. What an amazing journey for all!

Aubrey Dan

President, Dancap Productions Inc.

Prologue

Everyone’s heard of
Jersey Boys
. Thirteen million people have seen the show, totaling more than $1 billion in worldwide ticket sales. The cast members have performed on
The Oprah Winfrey Show
, the
Today
show,
Dancing with the Stars
, and at the Emmy Awards. Their recording has gone Platinum, selling more than a million copies in the United States alone. There are six companies performing it around the world right now: New York, Las Vegas, London, Australia…the boys are everywhere.

My first experience with the production of
Jersey Boys
came via my then soon-to-be wife. Knowing my love for anything new on Broadway, Cara gave me tickets to the show for my birthday in March of 2007. We had lived together in New York for less than a year and, although we were both working, our budget still dictated we sit in the very back row of the August Wilson Theatre.

The performance of
Jersey Boys
that night was mind-bogglingly fast and endlessly passionate. The show just drives; taking the audience on a ride that culminates in a raucous standing ovation. (I’ve checked the show reports—every company of
Jersey Boys
around the world has received a standing ovation every single night since they opened.)

Jersey Boys
tells the story of the Four Seasons: Frankie Valli, Bob Gaudio, Tommy DeVito, and Nick Massi. Each member of the Seasons narrates a fourth of the show, offering their own version of the events that led this band to fifteen Top Ten hits and a place in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. As they step on stage, the four actors playing the Seasons transform into rock stars. They sing, dance, play instruments, and live through two-and-a-half hours of the true-life events (mafia connections, robberies, gambling debts, drug overdoses, etc.) that brought the band together and, eventually, tore them apart.

That night in March, I was blown away by the show, and by the ensemble of actors and musicians backing the performers playing the Four Seasons. One of them, it turned out, is friend of mine. Colin is younger than me, a fresh face in New York, and an amazing performer. Reading the playbill, I realized that he was fairly new in the show and doing a smash-up job playing Hank Majewski, a member of the ensemble.

At the end of this performance I jumped to my feet with everyone else. I knew that there was a role in it for me. I just had a deep-inside-my-gut feeling that one day I would play Hank Majewski…

ACT I

TWO YEARS OF AUDITIONS

HANK MAJEWSKI, ELVIS TUNES, & VATS OF HAIR GEL

Every actor has their “audition protocol.” Some actors will only go to auditions their agents have set up for them, while others will line up early to attend any audition at all, even if the audition is a required call. See, that’s the thing about theatre auditions: shows are required to hold them even if they are not actually casting anything right then. This benefits the average actor, for it is often the only way they will be seen by the casting director of a given show.

Actors’ Equity Association worked hard for this rule and I am grateful because I definitely fall into the latter category of auditioning. I will audition for anything. I have stood in line on 46th Street at 6:00 a.m. for days in a row during summer stock audition season. I have spent countless days in stairwells and hallways waiting three hours at a time to sign up for an audition, then two hours preparing for that audition later in the afternoon. It is routine to spend five hours in an audition room hoping for a slot while on the “alternate list” all because you spent the morning waiting for another audition ten blocks away.