INTERVIEW: Eyes still adore Aaron De Jesus as Frankie Valli in ‘Jersey Boys’

Photo: Jersey Boys features, from left, Jonathan Cable as Nick Massi, John Rochette as Tommy DeVito, Aaron De Jesus as Frankie Valli and CJ Pawlikowski as Bob Gaudio. Photo courtesy of Joan Marcus / Provided by BBB with permission.

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Jersey Boys and the songbook of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons continue to energize New York City crowds thanks to stellar cast members who are able to bring this New Jersey story to life night after night. The beloved musical began its life on Broadway and since then has played around the world. For the past four years, the production has been stationed at New World Stages in Midtown Manhattan, and there every step of the way is Aaron De Jesus, who portrays Valli in the show.

“I’ve been associated with Jersey Boys for almost 10 years,” De Jesus said in a recent phone interview. “I started with the show in Las Vegas. … I played Joe Pesci and understudied Frankie Valli. I was in the Las Vegas company for three-and-a-half years, and then I went on tour for two years on the North American tour as Frankie. That’s when I became Frankie, and after two years on tour and the show closing on Broadway, they announced the reopening off-Broadway. And I moved right into that spot after being on tour, and I’ve been with the show in New York at New World Stages since we opened four years ago.”

For De Jesus, the chance to play Valli has been a special treat. Even before he joined this musical journey, he was a lover of the Four Seasons’ music, which includes such hit songs as “December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night),” “I’ve Got You Under My Skin,” “Let’s Hang on to What We’ve Got” and “My Eyes Adored You.”

“I loved the fact that there were at least two roles in the show for a short guy that looked like me because honestly there aren’t too many roles that fit me perfectly quite like this show does,” he said. “So it’s exciting to be doing something that’s such a great fit, not just the look but also the skill set and everything about the show.”

Performing Jersey Boys each night can be quite the challenge. Valli is known for his upper-register falsetto voice, and De Jesus expertly re-creates that voice at every performance. For the actor, playing this central part is one of the most difficult obstacles he has ever faced.

“It is quite a challenge, and it’s all in staying healthy,” De Jesus said. “It’s all in doing all the things you need to do, being hydrated, rested well, exercising, eating well, all those sorts of things, all the basics help. But it is very challenging and exhausting. … During the days, if I find that my voice is extra tired or something happens, I have to take it easy. I’m not a partier, so I don’t go out after the show for hours and hours and do that sort of a thing. You have to live a much more quiet daytime in order to have what it takes to do the show at night, and I’m also studying regularly with my voice teacher.”

When De Jesus first signed on the dotted line a decade ago, he was familiar with the Four Seasons and their memorable catalog, but he didn’t know the story of how these “Jersey boys” made it, first in New Jersey and then around the world.

“I would say that my response when I first started getting to know the show was the same that most audience members have when they first see the show, which is I knew all the songs but didn’t really know the story,” he said. “Nobody really knows the story of these guys unless you grew up in this area, and so that’s one of the fun things discovering, oh, this story is great, and it’s a true story. That’s one of the greatest things about it is that it’s all true. These things actually happened, so everything that happens in the show is exciting and fun and interesting. And it has a wide range of emotion, a large passage of time, so we see all the characters go through these changes and these journeys. And so that was my first takeaway — wow, what a great story.”

One difficulty for a performer who has been with a show for many years is how to make their performance fresh and “new” at every single curtain. For De Jesus, he’s aware of this challenge, and he’s thankful for the many ensemble members who have been with him on this journey over the past 10 years.

“I love the people who I work with, and I’m sad when people move on,” De Jesus said. “But doing the same show for almost 10 years, one of the joys is watching someone new bring in a new energy, breathe different life into a role or a character or a line that someone before has never done, and so the hardest part for my job in a long-running show is to make sure that it’s fresh and clean and real and ‘for the first time.’ That’s the job of the actor is to make it seem like the first time for the audience, the first time it’s ever happened, so when someone new comes in and brings new life and new energy, it makes it so much easier to have those honest, real, initial responses and initial reactions to something that’s new because it is new. And in that sense, it’s been a joy, and it’s helped keep the show and my role fresh.”

By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com

Jersey Boys, starring Aaron De Jesus as Frankie Valli, continues at New World Stages in New York City. Click here for more information and tickets.