Some Summer

And now, the understatement of the year: It's been a busy summer for this Jersey Boy.

Before I get into everything, here's some news for you:

* JERSEY BOYS Toronto just celebrated its One-Year Anniversary! More on this story at the bottom.

* JERSEY BOYS Toronto has recently been extended until the end of November! So, get over to www.jerseyboystoronto.com (the link is over on the right) or call Dancap at 416-644-3665 and get your tickets now. With any luck, we'll keep on going and going and going...

* There are 7 NEW VIDEOS on my website for you to check out. (The link is over on the right) If you haven't been over there in a while, do yourself a favour and check those videos out! Go to www.jeffmadden.ca and from the homepage, click "NEWS".There's the "ETALK Daily" video, National Anthem Videos, and 2 videos featuring our new "Sherry" B-Roll footage. My performance schedule is there too, so you can see that I'll be off September 5th-6th and 12th-13th.





OK - hit the rewind button - you want to know what's been keeping us so busy? The rest of this post spells it out for you. And remember, these events are all in addition to the eight (well, six in my case) shows we do every week.

June 7th - My radio interview on the FAN 590AM comes out. Check it out here if you like. It's about eight minutes long. Once you get to the link, click on Audio Archives in the menu on the left, the "Jeff Madden interview" is 6th down of the list. FAN 590AM Interview

June 26th - Four cast members play a round of golf with some lucky winners of a Father's Day Contest sponsored by Jersey Boys and the Toronto Star. I discover that spending five hours in the hot sun before a show is a bad idea.









June 29th - THE DORA AWARDS. I win my award, and all is right with the world. It was a stunning night, one that will always remember. I covered it at length in an earlier blog post, so check it out there.


















Canada Day, July 1st - CHIN PICNIC. Eight cast members kick off the opening ceremonies with an a capella version of O Canada. Check out the CITY TV video here or on my website. CHIN Anthem/Interview VIDEO











July 7th - I do an interview with Mad Dog, the energetic morning host at VIRGIN Radio 99.9FM. He raved about the show on air so much, I hardly got a word in edgewise!

July 8th - The Oakville Beaver article finally gets online. Check it out if you like.
Oakville Beaver Article

July 10th - I do an interview with CKOC, a London Radio station. We talk about the 'gas card' promotion to help get visitors down the 401 and QEW highways to see the show.

July 11th - I get the honour of singing the National Anthem at the Roger's Centre for the CFL's Toronto Argonauts Home Opener. Solo. This was a real thrill, as I am a huge sports fan and have heard countless singers sing the anthem at sporting events.Memories of the day include chatting with the Offensive Line Coach on the field a couple hours before game time, getting a nice handshake from Head Coach Bart Andrus just before I started, and after I finished singing, being surprised by a kiss on the cheek by a notorious 'Kissing Bandit', the Argos' 275-pound Adriano Belli. He kinda scared me a bit, and I'm not ashamed to admit it. Argo Anthem VIDEO



July 17th - I do an Interview for Toronto's freebie Newspaper 'Metro' about my freaking car of all things. Madden's Roadrunner Article We also had an extra rehearsal today.

July 22nd - Interview with Classic Rock Radio Station 103.9FM

July 23rd - A live phone interview with morning host Ralph Benmergui on Jazz FM 91.1

July 30th - The four boys all head off to a Toronto Recording Studio to record the Audio for our new commercial. It's called the "B Roll" and its only to be used on News broadcasts. We spent a couple hours hammering out "Sherry" over and over and over. Nevertheless, it was great fun to gain the experience of being in the recording studio essentially doing what the Four Seasons did.

July 31st - Another rehearsal, this time for the upcoming "Taste of the Danforth" performance.

August 6th - Another rehearsal, this time a Dance clean-up with our choreo-guru Danny Austin.

August 7th - We spend the afternoon filming the Video for our new "B Roll" commercial. We're onstage at the TCA, full costumes, set, lighting etc, only now we are filming shot by shot, 10 seconds here, 20 seconds there, and trying to match the audio that we recorded at the studio the week prior. It was very tiring, but ultimately, a lot of fun. Four hours of hard work for a 2-minute slot.

Aug 8th - I do a live radio interview with Spider Jones on CFRB 1010AM in the middle of one of Toronto's most famous streets, Danforth Avenue. It was about 30 minutes, with people walking by and listening in, and Spider was totally playing the crowd. He exudes such a positive energy and was so jazzed about Jersey Boys. I loved being around that amazing guy.




That night, MLB Pitcher Jeremy Guthrie and some of the Baltimore Orioles staff came to the show, and afterward we all hung out together. This was Jeremy's 3rd time seeing us, and it was a pleasure to spend time with him again. This time he brought more gifts - I got a Oriole Ball Cap, a signed picture and another ball. And, an invite to Batting practice the next day. He's the best.

Aug 9th - I join Quinn and Michael on the field at the Roger's Centre in the morning before the Jays/Orioles Game. For me, this is the best. Baseball was my first love, and here I'm truly living out my boyhood dreams. Chatting with ballplayers, hearing the crack of the bat from the cage, feeling the rush. Afterward, Jeremy hands me a glove and we actually play catch right there on the field behind home plate. It was unbelievable. And to top it off, I meet the Orioles Manager, Pitching coach, and get a tour of their clubhouse before hopping into a cab to take me to the theatre for the show.


After the matinee, we quickly get into a van and head over to the "Taste of the Danforth" for our 10-minute live performance. This was the end of a really long week. With all the extra stuff and the six shows, I was really tired. And to top it off, it was really hot and humid that day. And of course, the medley is all the big hits back to back to back, with no rest for me. I basically swallowed the mic and screamed it out. There was not a lot of nuance. Ah well, the trials of being a Rockstar. It was pretty cool though, seeing hundreds of people gather around the stage, dancing and cheering along.



August 14th - Another Rehearsal, this time with our incredible assistant director West Hyler. We're really tightening things up for our big 1-year anniversary show the following week.

August 19th - The four boys are interviewed for CITY TV's "In The City" segment on the news. It was pretty funny. If you're interested, check out the video. CITY TV Interview



August 20th -
It's Jersey Boys Toronto's 1-Year Anniversary Performance. Everything went great, the crowd was rocking, the cast was primed, and we knocked it out of the park. At the end of the show, Aubrey Dan was given a gift onstage by the TCA Board President, and then introduced Bob Gaudio and Rick Elice to the sold-out crowd. Oh, What A Night, indeed.





Once the show was finished, we mingled with Bob and Rick, took some photos, and then headed to our after-party. It was awesome - a big cake, lots of great food, plenty of drinks to send us all home happy. Bob and Rick couldn't be happier with our show, and that makes me a very happy camper.






August 24th - The cast and crew of Jersey Boys Toronto celebrate the summer that was on a beautiful Toronto Harbour Cruise. It was the perfect way to symbolize all that we've achieved together. To paraphrase myself in the show, 'We got something going here. It took a lot of work, and a whole year. We're not gonna let it come apart!'



PS - Look who's Taking the Wheel?!?!

The Night I Won My DORA Award

I imagine by now, most of you have already heard the news... but in case you haven't:
I won the DORA award for Outstanding Performance by a Male in a Principal Role – Musical!

It is such an honour to be recognized by my peers in this way, and a week later, I'm still kinda of stunned. I have received tonnes of emails and facebook messages from you all wishing me congratulations. Thank you all so much, from the bottom of my heart. It means so much to have the support of friends and family. However, in lieu of sending a hundred individual emails thanking you all and telling you how it went, this blog post is my attempt to do just that.

My lovely wife Christine and I showed up under an umbrella at the Dora-Nominees VIP Reception at the Rosewater Supper Club at about 6pm. It was well attended, with both floors packed with beautiful theatre, dance, and opera people eating, drinking and laughing before the big show. Excitement was definitely in the air.

Christine was looking especially gorgeous, in a fancy black frock and I was wearing my new summery suit. (No, Harry Rosen didn't provide me with the George Clooney-inspired duds as ETalk suggested.) Everybody was dressed to the nines. It was a special night, after all. There were a couple short speeches and then we were asked to walk the few blocks over to the Winter Garden Theatre for the real reason for the season. Luckily, it had stopped raining.

We filed in right at 8pm and were seated down in the third row with the rest of the Dancap people. These were the 30th annual DORA Awards, and were hosted by Jian Ghomeshi of CBC Radio One's flagship arts show "Q". (But perhaps most notably infamous for his interview with actor-turned-Tom Petty-wannabe Billy Bob Thornton a month back.) Jian used to be in the folky-pop a Capella group Moxy Fruvous, back in the day. Remember them? ("Once I was the King of Spain, now I eat humble pie...") I had their tape. I'm dating myself. As a good friend used to say, 'Well if I won't, who will?'

But I digress. Like most awards shows, the host opened with a song - but not just any song - "Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You". My heart started beating really fast. Partly flattered, partly nervous he was going to make fun of it/us/our show. He didn't. It was a nice tribute, which segued into a comedy piece where he walked into the crowd and made fun of Ross Petty, mastermind of the Christmas Pantos (sample lyric: 'God knows why Karen Kain is with you...').

The show moved along nicely with some winners saying how they'd been nominated 5 or 10 times and this was their first win; and others winning for their first nominations. That humbled me instantly. Most winners surprisingly hadn't prepared a speech at all, while others delivered their rehearsed speeches with verve and passion.

It was about 9:30pm by the time JERSEY BOYS' 1st category came up. When Sergio Trujillo didn't win for Best Choreography, my heart sank a bit. I thought, 'Oh no, maybe it's not our night!'. But that feeling quickly disappeared when we won our 2nd and 3rd categories; Des McAnuff won for his brilliant direction, and then JERSEY BOYS won the coveted Audience Choice Award for Best Show.

It must have been 10:30pm when they finally got to my category. Cast mates and fellow nominees Michael Lomenda and Quinn VanAntwerp sat to my immediate left and right. We three shared a nice glance at each other as the presenters came on stage. It was a special moment for me, one that showed our support and respect for each other. (Jeremy was dearly missed on this night, as he remained at home in New York with his very pregnant wife Jenny Lee Stern.)

C. David Johnson and Cynthia Dale (both of "Street Legal" fame) read out the nominees in alphabetical order, and in the pause before "and the Dora goes to..." you could hear a pin drop. I know I was holding my breath. It's interesting - I don't remember looking at the stage when I heard my name being called. I'm still not even sure which presenter said my name. In that moment before my name was called, I went somewhere... it felt like I was dreaming.

But, it was no dream. I did hear my name. And I remember hearing applause, and feeling Michael pat my left arm. I turned to my right and looked at Christine, then hugged her and kissed her. I stood up, and there were my parents, proud as could be. I kissed my Mom and shook my Dad's hand as I made my way out the aisle to go up the stairs to the right of the stage.

Once I crossed to centre stage I began to come back to reality a bit. I heard the applause quite clearly now and felt the bright lights shining in my eyes. Cynthia Dale handed my the beautiful (and heavy) statue - I think I kissed her too, on the cheek - not like Adrian Brody on Halle Berry at the Oscars a few years back - that would have been weird. But enjoyable. For her. Kidding. Uh, moving on.

As I walked to the mic down stage I pulled my speech out of my suit jacket pocket. (I like to be prepared:)) I was really happy with how I delivered my speech, and how well it went over. (If you're interested in reading it, it will appear in its entirety in the following blog post.)


Once finished, I exit into the wings Stage Left and am whisked away to a table where I'm given a bottle of champagne and some congratulations. The first photos of me with MY new DORA are taken. I'm interviewed for something live in front of the camera, but it's all a blur. 'How does it feel? What do you have to say?' 'Uh, duh, um, wow, its great...' You know the routine.

The last category of the night is for Best Musical and somehow we didn't win. The Sound Of Music won despite only having one nominated actor (we had four), and losing best direction and the audience choice award to us. But, honestly - you can't find two shows more different than each other, each appealing to two completely different audiences. Apples and Oranges. Both yummy. And good for you. And fruity. (Hey, maybe they're not that different after all.)

The three-hour show comes to an end and I rejoin my colleagues. Lots of hugs and kisses and congratulations from everyone. Some people tell me how great my speech was, and I'm surprised. I guess it touched some people. I realize now that when delivering it, I was very moved up there. I spoke from the heart about how great an honour it is to do what I do, and how lucky I am to be able to follow my dream. I got choked up a bit, I'm not gonna lie.


OK - Enough with the sappy shit! The night was just beginning! Immediately after the awards, we headed over to the After-Party in style - in a double-decker sight-seeing bus. Since it had recently stopped raining, we sat atop the bus in the open air. It was just perfect. We had a magical ride, floating along Yonge Street with it's lights and billboards, and everyone in great spirits only adding to the excitement.

The After-Party was great - more drinks, eats, photos, and partying. Two floors of fun. Lots more mingling and congratulations and even a surprise visit from my brother Joel, sporting his JERSEY BOYS hat. I guess they thought he was with the show because they let him right in! He gave me the biggest hug. And my agent and friend Kish was there by my side all night long too. He was beaming most of the night. He took a big chance on me when I was just starting out, and I owe him so much. It was really special being surrounded by so many friends and family.

The next day, I found this article online - from Now Magazine. Even the writer Jon Kaplan mentioned that I had one of the better speeches of the evening. Check out his wrap-up if you like. Now Magazine Article If the link doesn't work, go here: http://www.nowtoronto.com/daily/story.cfm?content=170170

I am a lucky man, indeed. It was a night I will not soon forget. The night I won my DORA. My Speech follows. Read it below.
:)

My DORA Acceptance Speech

I've printing my acceptance speech here for a couple of good reasons. One, I've gotten a lot of wonderful feedback on the speech from people who were at the DORAS that night. I figured some of you might want to read it here.

But mostly, I've printed it here to send my thanks out to the Universe again, for this incredible honour that I've received. They give these awards to one person, but, no art is created in a vacuum. Theatre especially is collaborative and interpersonal. I owe so many people so many thanks for helping guide me to the point where I am at right now. So, if your name is mentioned here, I can't thank you enough. It means the world to me.
********

(Pulling my speech out of my suit jacket packet)
Wow, this is crazy. Honestly, it's unbelievable.

(Taking a big breath)
I want to thank TAPA and the DORA Selection Committee for giving me this honour.

(Knowing the clock is ticking on my 90 seconds)
Phew. OK, please bear with me because I have a million people to thank, because, well, there are a million people involved in putting on JERSEY BOYS.

First I want to thank Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice for writing such wonderful words to speak, and Bob Gaudio and Bob Crewe for writing such amazing songs to sing.

And I want to thank Des McAnuff, Ron Melrose and Sergio Trujillo for shaping this masterpiece for the stage, who, along with Richard Hester, Michael Rafter, and everyone at the Dodgers in New York City entrusted me with this incredibly demanding role, for some absurd reason.

Thank you to Tara Rubin and Merri Sugarman, along with Sherry Dayton and Michael Walters for not casting, I don't know, Zac Efron or something. (audience laughs)

And my amazing agent Kish for your continued ... (I get choked up, part 1)... belief in me and support. It means so much...

(Collecting myself, hurriedly)
I must thank West Hyler, Danny Austin and Liz Baird for busting my ass every minute of every hour of every day of rehearsal. You let me find my own way through this material, allowing me to shape my own version of "Frankie".

Thank you to our awesome stage managers Cindy, Zeph and Mel, our awesome and dedicated crew, and the best band anywhere - you guys make us all look and sound great up there.

Most of all, I want to thank Jeremy Kushnier, Michael Lomenda and Quinn VanAntwerp, and the entire cast of JERSEY BOYS for being the best cast anyone could hope for.

Thank you to Aubrey Dan and everyone at Dancap for having the brains, and lets face it, the balls to bring this show to the Toronto market at this time. Way to go!

Finally, (I get choked up, part 2) I wanna thank my Mom and Dad sitting right down here and my brothers Chris and Joel for your never-ending support... and lastly ...

*(The Get-Off-The-Stage Music starts to play - it's soft, and pretty, and believe it or not, it's 'Can't Take My Eyes Off of You' played on keyboard)*

(Ad Libbing)
Oh - this music is perfect for this part! (audience laughs)

(Calmly carrying on over the perfect musical underscore)
To my wife, Christine... (audience laughs)... you have made several huge sacrifices to allow me to follow my dream ... (I get choked up, part 3) and I can't begin to thank you enough. I love you so much.

(Growing brazen and Ad Libbing some more)
Look, I'm just a regular guy with a Science Degree who had a passion for performing. So, for all you Science students out there who want to get into show business (holding up my Dora) stick to it, you've still got a chance! (audience laughs)

Thank you all from the bottom of my heart.

*******
Who I Forgot To Thank:

I wish I had remembered to thank three very important singing teachers who have helped me enormously over the past 15 years. Andrew Seok, Carol Forte and Katie Agresta have taught me how to properly use my voice, enabling me to achieve the limits of my talent. I literally could not do this role without them.

Time Wouldn't Allow Me To Thank:

- Joseph Leo Bwarie, my first 'Frankie', for showing me the way and passing along some tricks of the trade
- My reading partners at my auditions in Toronto and New York City - all wonderful actors;
- My accompanist at my first auditions, Noreen Waibel;
- The musical mentors I've had in my life, including Paul Sportelli, Ryan DeSouza, and numerous piano teachers, trumpet teachers, band leaders in Etobicoke and Dartmouth;
- The acting mentors I've had in my life (whether they knew they were mentoring me or not) including literally dozens of Shaw Festival Ensemble actors and directors too numerous to mention - you have no idea how influential you were to my development;
- The crew at Hart House Theatre and all my friends at U of T in UC Follies who first put the idea of making this a career in my head, and gave me the fertile training ground I needed to develop.

The Update - Part 2

Week of June 8 - 15: Bittersweet

The second week back from vacation was looking just as busy as the first, so I kicked it off right by working on my day off. Smart, huh? Well, when you love your job, and people want you to perform, it's hard to say no. So, Monday night Michael, Quinn, Grant Tilly (subbing for Jeremy) and I sang our 'Guy's Guy Movie Medley' at a Gala for the Paul Penna Downtown Jewish Day School at the Al Green Theatre in Toronto. I also sang a solo number from my CD 'TAKING THE WHEEL', entitled "What Is It About Her?". It was a fun night for a good cause, but ultimately a bit tiring.

Tuesday morning I did an interview by the Oakville Beaver newspaper. I think it'll hit Oakville's doorsteps in a couple days. Check their website in a couple days to see if they have it up online. Click here.

Wednesday morning brought us a rare opportunity - to do a feature on TV's popular infotainment show, "E-TALK". The idea for this came after all four of us - Jeremy, Michael, Quinn and I - were nominated for a Dora Award. They figured we'd all be going to the Gala together, and would want to look the part, kind of like a modern Rat-Pack. We met at Harry Rosen's flagship store in Yorkville, and their designers helped pick out stylish duds for us to wear. They filmed us the whole time, walking in, shopping around, trying stuff on, goofing off, and generally making asses of ourselves. It was a lot of fun. I can't wait to see the segment, if only to see what they bleeped out. It will be on TV in a couple days time - double check your local listings, but here's what I think will happen - Our segment will air on CTV Thursday, June 25th, 7pm EST; and again Friday, June 26th at 1pm EST; it will also air on STAR a couple more times. Don't miss it!

Thursday and Friday afternoons were again spent rehearsing with Dan. It's exciting to see him get more comfortable in the role. But again, it's really difficult doing the show with two different 'Tommys'. His character drives a great deal of Act 1, and most of what our characters do is in reaction to him. And, making it worse, we were all getting a bit emotional, knowing that we'd be saying good-bye to Jeremy.

Jeremy's last show was Sunday June 14th, and it was a roller-coaster ride. Emotions were running high - first, we were exhausted from a couple brutal weeks of non-stop work, second, we were losing our leader, the guy who set the bar for us all in rehearsal (since he has already done the part for over a year), and third, the show never felt so real, with exact lines of dialogue replicating what we were going through. It was trippy, really. Several times during the show I got choked up, as did the other guys. It turned out to be an incredible show for the audience, because everyone was so raw. Jeremy was given a well-deserved extra bow in the curtain call, and he welled up in front of 1500 cheering people. Oh what a night, indeed.

After the show, we had a party to say goodbye, but also to celebrate completing six full months of shows! There were speeches, free food and drinks and even an enormous cake designed to look like the front of the playbill. But it was bittersweet to be sure (the moment, not the cake). Jeremy will be missed, and we will carry on with Dan, hopefully for a long time to come.


Week of June 16 - 23: Another Astonishing Addition

Tuesday morning started off with an interview with a reporter from the Halifax Chronicle-Herald newspaper. I lived in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia for five years growing up, and had many great memories of living there. In fact, my first job was delivering that very newspaper. And I started playing trumpet and joined my first bands in school there. If you're interested in checking out the article, click HERE.

Tuesday night was Dan's first show! It was great. We knew he'd be great after rehearsing with him so much, and he hardly let us down - he knocked it out of the park! We had a big house that night, and they cheered him loudly throughout. I'm sure most of them didn't know it was his first show, either. We celebrated our new cast member in style with some Italian champagne after the show, but kept it an early night because Wednesday's two shows were looming.

Another rather big piece of news is the addition of Alison Smyth to our company, doing 'Francine' track. Alison is replacing the lovely Lindsay Thomas in the role while Lindsay attends to some personal matters. She will certainly be missed at the theatre.

Alison had the unenviable position to learn the entire track in about a week. You've gotta understand, her track is probably the most technical of them all - for example she has 13 costume changes in Act 1 alone, often rushing on with some piece of furniture and as a new character. She sings the lead in "My Boyfriend's Back", and to top it all off, she has to play my mother, my girlfriend, and my daughter. Now if that doesn't break you up when you go to bed tonight, nothing will.

So, there we were, back at rehearsal Thursday and Friday. And, Alison did so great, they decided to put her into the show right away Friday night! Of course, she did amazing. You'd never have known that 10 prior she was signing her contract. And of course, to celebrate Alison joining our company, more Italian champagne was poured.

Something else cool happened this week - we had three sold-out shows! And, Friday night we sold the most tickets to any performance of JERSEY BOYS ever in Toronto, including the Touring production. Ticket sales have really picked up lately. No one really knows why - the great word of mouth, the 7 DORA nominations, the onset of Summer, all the Publicity, Father's Day - but it's a sign, Tommy. Here's hoping we rock through the summer selling out every night, and run this fantastic show for a long, long time.

Oh, and before I go, I thought I'd mention that we're performing at the CHIN picnic on Canada Day. Details will be figured out later, but if you're around and you're interested, check it out. And, the DORA awards will be handed out next Monday night, June 29th. Cross you fingers, everybody.

The Update - Part 1

Uh, yeah, sorry. I haven't written in a while. You see, I've been a little busy with work. After reading on, you'll understand why. This blog post is Part-1 in an attempt to get you caught up with my ridiculously busy schedule for the past four weeks.

My Vacation Week, May 25 - 31: SICK HAPPENS

Life is funny. You plan months in advance, you think you are in control. Uh, not so much. Although my wife and I had our trip to Cuba all planned out, our bags packed and waiting at the door, we apparently forgot to tell 15-month-old Emily not to get a fever. Sick happens, I guess.

With only 12 hours to go before we were to leave for the airport, her fever and symptoms were bad enough to make us very uneasy about getting on a long plane ride to a communist country with temperatures nearing 100F. I couldn't believe our luck. I had been looking forward to this week of fun and pampering for such a long time. Needless to say, we cancelled the trip. Honestly, I was crushed. On the plus side, we learned that Cancellation Insurance was made for families with young children. We'll get all our dough back, he says crossing his fingers.

So, after a few days at home managing the colds things settled down a bit - yes, that's colds, plural, because of course, Sydney got the bug two days later. I salvaged some vacation time by hopping on a plane with my Dad Phil bound for Las Vegas. We found a great last minute deal to stay at the Palazzo Hotel right on the strip, which just happens to be where JERSEY BOYS is playing. So of course, we went to see the show! How could I not? Here's a pic of me and the "Vegas Four Seasons" backstage after the show.

I did feel a bit out of place sitting in the audience though. I think I prefer to be up onstage! The show was great - if a bit shorter. They cut out lines of dialogue throughout the show and shortened the intermission to eight minutes, so the audience could get back onto the Casino floor faster, I guess. But it didn't seem to matter - the crowd reacted almost identically to our crowds here in Toronto, which is the goal, I think. A hit is a hit, wherever you go!

The rest of our time was spent trying to stay out of the casinos. We hung out around the beautiful pools relaxing, we played a nice round of golf, and saw the Cirque du Soleil show 'O' from the second row - which was absolutely mind-blowing. All in all, it was a nice - if short - vacation.



Week of June 1 - 7: DORAS AND TONYS AND FRANKIES, OH MY!

My first week back from vacation was a doozie. (There's a word for you - God, how old am I?) Talk about being jolted back into the swing of things. First thing Tuesday morning, a did an interview with the Etobicoke Guardian newspaper. Check it out HERE.

Then later in the week I did a live radio interview on The Fan 590 AM. Check that out HERE. My interview should appear at the top of the list - June 7. If that doesn't work click on Audio Archives on the left, and look for my name.

And, no, I didn't forget how to do the show Tuesday night after the week off - in case you were wondering, it went great!

First thing Wednesday morning, Jeremy, Michael, Quinn and I were invited to announce the 2008-09 DORA Nominations at a press conference at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts in downtown Toronto. (Get the tie-in there? The 'Four Seasons' at the Four Seasons. Sorry to be so obvious for pointing that out!) Anyway, much to our pleasure, JERSEY BOYS was nominated for seven DORA awards, and surprise surprise, all four of us were nominated in the same catagory - for Best Performance in a Musical!

It feels really amazing being nominated for this DORA award. But, I have to say, I'm over the moon about having all four guys nominated. And, the absolute capper is having the show be nominated for Best Musical. Man, I hope we win that one. And actually, there is one big award that you can all help us win. There is an Audience Choice Award for Best Show, but there's only a day or two left to vote. Please help us win by going to this site and vote for JERSEY BOYS. CLICK HERE TO VOTE.

Thursday and Friday afternoon we had rehearsals with our new 'Tommy Devito', Daniel Robert Sullivan. Dan had been rehearsing the show with the National Tour for the past couple weeks, and now he has joined us. Dan has replaced Jeremy Kushnier, who has left the show to move back to New York with his very pregnant wife Jenny Lee Stern who played 'Mary Delgado' here in Toronto for four-plus months. They want to settle in to their new house before baby makes her appearance later this summer. So, it's been a bit weird - rehearsing with one 'Tommy' in the afternoon, then doing the show with the other 'Tommy' at night. But, that's show biz.

After Sunday's matinee, Michael, Quinn and I took Jeremy out for a 'Big Man In Town' Night, Jersey-style, in honour of his leaving and to say thanks for being such an incredible cast member. We rented a limo for the night, and started the night off in style, having dinner overlooking the beautiful skyline atop the CN Tower. Then it was a seemingly endless series of drinks at various nightspots around the town, the names of which I seem to escape me for some odd reason. What I do remember though, is that it was an epic night of great meaning to me and the guys. I wish we all could hang on to that feeling forever.

Jeremy's 'BMIT' Night also happened to coincide with a little event called the Tony Awards in New York City. Some of you may have heard a bit of juicy gossip about my potential involvement in a live performance onstage at said Tonys. And some more of you may have watched the Tonys, heard them say something like "... the Frankie from Toronto, ..." only to see five other guys sing.

Let me set the record straight. It's all very simple. The Tony Awards broadcast decided to give JERSEY BOYS a 2-minute performance slot for having such great success beyond Broadway. The producers of JB decided after much deliberation to do a medley of "Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You" and "Oh, What A Night", and feature the five 'Frankies' from the five North American companies of Jersey Boys currently playing. Which meant that I was to be a part of the live televised event. Only, being a Canadian citizen, I can only work in the United States if I have a working VISA and join the American Actors Union(s). Unfortunately, there was not sufficient time to get me the legal paperwork before the Tonys. End of story.

I was actually spared a lot of heartache, because I was only informed of all this after the final (negative) decision was made by the American Government agency. Which was a blessing. Since I didn't know it might have happened, I couldn't get all excited about the prospect. But, of course, I was disappointed to miss out on this potentially amazing opportunity. I mean, who wouldn't want to go sing a great song on live TV in front of millions of people at the Tonys - not to mention meeting celebrities, party-hopping, and hanging with Liza?

The way I look at it is this: The producers really wanted me to be a part of this event. They chose to go ahead with this event with me in mind as one of the 'Frankies'. That makes me feel really good. And, after my involvement fell through, the news was respectfully broken to me in the most professional and gentle manner by several key members of the JERSEY BOYS family, which made all the difference to me. Look, I believe that all things happen for a reason, even if the reason isn't obvious at first. It'll reveal itself to me at another time. I still have a fantastic job, and get to perform in front of tons of screaming fans every night. Talk about "Too Good To Be True". I'm living that dream. It's all good.