Jersey Boys opened in London at the Prince Edward Theatre in 2008 and moved to the Piccadilly Theatre in March 2014 and, following a recent cast change, Brighton resident, and Principal of The Brighton Academy, Stuart Dawes is now playing Knuckles. The musical has now been seen by over 22 million people worldwide and is firmly established as one of the West End’s longest running and most popular shows.
A second UK production of Jersey Boys is currently breaking box office records on its first ever tour, and this will be visiting the region when it appears at the Congress Theatre, Eastbourne from Tuesday 24th November to Saturday 5th December.
Jersey Boys is the true story of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons and their rise to stardom from the wrong side of the tracks. The four boys from New Jersey became one of the most successful bands in pop history, were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and sold over 100 million records worldwide, all before they turned 30.
The show is packed with their hits, including Beggin’, Sherry, Walk Like A Man, December 1963 (Oh What a Night), Big Girls Don’t Cry, My Eyes Adored You, Let’s Hang On (To What We’ve Got), Bye Bye Baby, Can’t Take My Eyes Off You, Working My Way Back to You, Fallen Angel, Rag Doll and Who Loves You.
After a recent matinee performance, I was lucky enough to chat to Stuart about his life on stage, his love of the theatre and his chance to give something back to the industry through The Brighton Academy
So, you’re back in the West End again then?
Yes, and it’s great to be in such a well respected, perfect show and, for me, that’s what it’s all about, to perform in a successful show with such a great team. There are only 14 of us in the cast and so we all have a lot to do but it’s a great atmosphere when we are together, both on and off stage.
I’ve just watched the matinee and it does seem like there are a lot more than 14 of you.
Well, several members of the band do come on at times, so that swells the ranks, and quite a few of us play multiple parts, so we do give the impression of a much bigger cast. For all of us, the cast, the band, the wardrobe and all the crew, we are very well integrated because there is so much going on backstage, like all the quick changes, so we all have to work well as a team.
It does sound like really hard work.
I don’t know. I think we are very privileged in this industry to be doing something that we really enjoy. For me, that has always been the reason to be involved in it and, when you love it that much, it doesn’t really seem too much like hard work. Realistically, yes, it is hard work, but the fun factor always makes it seem a lot easier.
How long have you been with Jersey Boys and what did you do before?
I started rehearsals for Jersey Boys in February and opened in March so I’m getting towards the halfway point of my contract now but right before that I was concentrating on my full time arts college in Brighton, called The Brighton Academy. It’s owned by me and three other performers who all moved down to Brighton and it’s our way of trying to give something back, because there is very little on the south coast in the way of full time courses.
I also had a part in the new Cinderella film, I was a dancer in that, but I haven’t seen it yet as we just had our second daughter right as the film was released, so we’ve been a bit too busy to go and see it.
How is the college doing, and what is it that you have set out to do?
We offer a full time 3 year musical theatre course so, basically, it’s the same as the London colleges, like Mountview, Guildford and the rest offer, but the whole purpose of it was to set up something that was affordable for students because there are not many student scholarships or DaDA’s (Dance and Drama Awards) available any more, which would provide funding for their course, and there is nothing available on the south coast.
So, what we wanted to do was to set up something that was affordable. It’s a small college, there will never be any more than 30 in a year group, but we are already having success with one of our boys going on to perform in Shrek and others being signed up by London agents.
All four of the owners really love the industry and we still work in it. My wife, Emma, was recently in Wicked, Tim Newman is in Memphis and Kate has done loads of shows including Hairspray and Joseph. We love the work and, like me in Jersey Boys, which I really love to do, we are able to constantly feedback how the industry is to the students.
And I understand that the Academy has some well known backers.
Yes, we work in association with acclaimed Choreographer Matthew Bourne and we have Olivier Award-winning Choreographer and Director Stephen Mear as Patron and what’s great is that we have worked with them before, I did Crazy For You with Stephen, and they really appreciate what we are trying to achieve.
It is possible to live in the surrounding areas along the south coast, Eastbourne, Portsmouth etc. and instead of having to pay £12,000 to £13,000 a year plus your travelling and living expenses, our fees are just £6000 and you can still live at home.
What plans do you have for the future?
I would really love to stay and do a second year with Jersey Boys. It’s a great show and, for me, it’s just the perfect show for where I am at the moment so, ideally, I would love to stay but that is out of my hands. I think the new contract offers start going out in a few weeks time so we’ll just have to see where that goes. Hopefully they will ask me to stay.
Do you live in London, or commute from Brighton?
I commute and, I have to say, I think the commute to Brighton is actually quite good now. That 55 minutes is so good for getting work done when you need to, but it can also provide some really good “down time” as well. For me, when I was rehearsing for Jersey Boys, I had all my lines to learn and harmonies, and I had an understudy part that I had to do the same for, and that journey, on one train, made it a lot easier for me to rehearse it.
The only time it gets difficult is in winter time when there can be cancellations and, over Christmas, when they do the engineering works and we get stuck with replacement bus services.
I’ve seen your schedule of Christmas performances, and you certainly don’t need delays, because it’s a very heavy workload.
Yes, it always tends to be that way. Lots of extra matinees to do, but it’s a great season and I never get tired because for me, just like Christmas, this show is all about enjoyment and escapism. The show always gets really good audiences, it’s a lovely cast and company to work for and, because we are always so busy in Jersey Boys, we get a chance to feed off that. As long as you have that then every performance that you do will always be fun, and I think that’s the secret.
Jersey Boys is currently playing at the Piccadilly Theatre, 16 Denman Street, London W1D 7DY with performances from Tuesdays to Saturdays at 7.30pm, with Tuesday and Saturday matinees at 3.00pm and a Sunday show at 5.00pm. The current booking period runs to 14th February 2016 and tickets start from £24.50 to book please contact the Box Office on 0844 871 7630.
The touring production of Jersey Boys appears at the Congress Theatre Eastbourne from Tuesday 24th November to Saturday 5th December with evening performances at 7.30pm and Thursday and Saturday matinees at 2.30pm. Tickets, starting from £29.00 can be booked online at eastbournetheatres.co.uk or by calling the Box Office on 01323 412000.