PRESENTED BY THE APAC FOUNDATION
AT THE HERITAGE FORUM, NOVEMBER 27, 2010
JOHN LLOYD YOUNG, in his Broadway debut as Frankie Valli in Jersey Boys, won the highly coveted Antoinette Perry Award and is the only American actor in history to receive the Tony, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Actor in a Musical, the Theatre World Award for Outstanding Broadway Debut and a Grammy Award for the Platinum Best Show Album – Jersey Boys all in one year. Young garnered unprecedented accolades from New York and national media, including one of the most exciting New York Times reviews ever written for an actor making a Broadway debut.
He was the first guest star to be invited to appear on Fox TV’s now runaway hit Golden Globe-winning comedy, Glee, a role conceived over dinner between Glee creator, Ryan Murphy and Young’s girlfriend-at-the-time, Glee star, Lea Michele. His other TV appearances include NBC’s Law And Order, and CBS TV’s Late Show with David Letterman, ABC’s Live with Regis and Kelly, A&E’s Breakfast with the Arts, Entertainment Tonight, Celebrity Jeopardy, and several times on NBC’s Today Show, including Katie Couric’s highly-rated farewell.
When asked how he got the role in Jersey Boys – “I was up for the first regional production in La Jolla. I hadn’t done a big musical ever, though I was always a strong singer. I was up for a lot of musicals, called back often, but mostly just ended up being in plays. Sometimes I think you have to be somewhat of a cheerleader and less of an actor to be right for certain musicals and the fit was never there.
I really have to believe in what I’m doing, or else I’m not good at it. When I got the script from Jersey Boys, I was so ensconced in the world of straight plays that even though the script was great, the idea of doing a musical still seemed strange to me. I was taken by surprise, I think, and I didn’t have as strong an audition as I could have. However, by the time Broadway came around, a year had passed, I remembered how great the script was and my mind was in the right place. I WANTED to do it, and I went in there and auditioned with greater fervor than I had the first time around. Five auditions later, I had the role.”
Now a Los Angeles resident, Young has the title role in the upcoming family comedy Oy Vey! My Son Is Gay!! opposite Lainie Kazan, Saul Rubinek, Carmen Electra, Jai Rodriguez, Vince Pastore and Bruce Vilanch.
The production, Broadway Rocks Anaheim, is a benefit to kick off the Capital Campaign to build the Anaheim Performing Arts Center in Anaheim. The show also stars Jennifer Aedo, Erica Ash, James Barbour, Caitlin Baunoch, Dennis Bendersky, Jeremy Davison, Michelle Duffy, Ray Garcia, Julie Garnye, Jenna Leigh Green, Daniel Guzman, Tricia Kelly, Derek Klena, Crystal Starr Knighton, Vicki Lewis, Tyler Milliron, Mary Ann Mobley, Nicole Parker, Aleks Pevec, Joan Ryan, Jennifer Shelton, Nathan Shrake, James Snyder, Evan Strand, John Lloyd Young and Musical Theatre Unversity’s Kids Next Door. Songs are performed by some of the Broadway cast members of Jersey Boys, Wicked, Jane Eyre, Beauty and the Beast, Cry Baby and future Broadway productions of Heathers, The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Catch Me If You Can.
Reserved General Admission tickets are available at www.brownpapertickets.com/event/133171 for $20, $50 and $75. VIP tickets are $250 and $150, half of which will go directly to the Capital Campaign, and is tax deductible. The $250 VIP ticket includes dinner at The Muzeo, Premier Seating for Broadway Rocks Anaheim and a Meet the Cast reception after the performance. The $150 VIP ticket includes Premier Seating for Broadway Rocks Anaheim and a Meet the Cast reception after the performance. VIP tickets are available by calling Shelley at 714-401-5325.
