Jersey Boys is the gritty story of how Valli and his band escaped the mob influence of New Jersey in the 1950s and ’60s to sell 175 million records worldwide and produce such hits as Walk Like a Man, Big Girls Don’t Cry and Can’t Take My Eyes Off You.
Six productions are running globally since The Jersey Boys’ Broadway opening in 2005, where it is still sold out every night.
And like all productions, relative unknowns will play the Four Seasons in Australia.
Bobby Fox, an Irishman who moved to Sydney in 2002 after travelling the world with Riverdance, will play Valli.
With other cast members Stephen Mahy, Scott Johnson and Glaston Toft, he met Valli at the Las Vegas launch yesterday, with Fox crouching for the cameras while Valli stood on tip-toe.
“I was told that 5ft 9in (1.75m) was the limit for the role, and that’s how tall I am, although I used to bump it up to 5ft 10in on my biog,” said Fox.
Jersey Boys opens 4 July at Melbourne’s Princess Theatre. Tickets are available from www.ticketek.com.au.