The Boys have found a home.
"The Canadian premiere of Jersey Boys will be happening, as we always hoped it would, at the Toronto Centre for the Arts in the summer of 2008," producer Aubrey Dan told the Star yesterday.
There had been some doubt whether the board of the city-owned centre in North York would let Dan use the main stage of the venue for the six months he had insisted on.
The board spent nearly two months preparing a "risk assessment report" on how it would affect other clients.
"I'm thrilled that the City of Toronto has embraced Dancap Productions," Dan said, "and agreed to make room for the No. 1 production on Broadway here in my hometown.
"And besides," Dan added, "we look forward to working with the existing community groups currently using the facility so that the centre can become a beehive of activity and a magnet that will draw people to North York as Mel Lastman intended when he first built the place."
Jersey Boys is the story of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons, the pop singing sensations whose careers peaked in the early 1960s. They're best known for Valli's crystal-clear falsetto, ringing out in numbers like "Sherry" and "Big Girls Don't Cry."
Originally begun at the LaJolla Playhouse in California, it opened on Broadway on Nov. 6, 2005, won the 2006 Tony Award for Best Musical and has been playing to 100 per cent capacity since the day it started.
On the road, its San Francisco run is now near completing its sixth sold-out month, with no end in sight. The Los Angeles company opens in 10 days for a minimum three-month stint in the giant Ahmanson Theatre, and the Chicago engagement doesn't begin until October but has sold out its first four months already.
The run of Jersey Boys in Toronto will be a homecoming for two of its creators, Toronto natives director Des McAnuff and choreographer Sergio Trujillo.
"I think it's only fitting," said Dan, "that these two Torontonians who've gone on to international acclaim will get a chance to bring their work back home."
Although nothing is definite yet, McAnuff told the Star last month that "there is a very strong possibility that the production which opened here could be an all-Canadian company."
Dan also revealed that a subcommittee of the centre's board has been formed to examine his long-standing proposal to assume the management of the venue.
The Star has learned that the centre recently eliminated the position of vice-president of client services for the facility, which might serve as an omen that they're starting to clear the decks for a Dancap takeover.
Dan said response to his initial subscription season "has been tremendous, far beyond our expectations."
