Jersey Boys

Films: (author or co-author) Sleeper, Annie Hall (AA), Manhattan, Manhattan Murder Mystery; (writer/director) Simon, Lovesick, The Manhattan Project, Sister Mary Explains it All. Television: The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson (head writer), The Dick Cavett ABC late night show (head writer/co-producer). Mr. Brickman entered show business as a musician, first as a member of the folk group the Tarriers and then, along with John and Michelle Phillips, as one of the New Journeymen, which re-emerged a year later (Brickman having moved onto saner pursuits) as The Mamas and the Papas. Brickman’s recording (with Eric Weissberg) of the soundtrack of Deliverance, recorded in 1963, achieved gold status twice and remains a healthy seller around the world forty years later. Mr. Brickman has published in The New York Times, The New Yorker, Playboy, and other periodicals.

Bob Crewe and music partner Frank Slay became independent writer-producers when the category hadn’t yet been invented. In 1957 they wrote and produced “Silhouettes” for The Rays, skyrocketing to #1. Suddenly, producers in demand, they launched Freddie Cannon’s “Tallahassee Lassie” and Billy & Lillie’s “Lah Dee Da.” Crewe’s 1960’s solo unprecedented producing success with The Four Seasons birthed a new sound, striking a major chord in American Pop. “Sherry,” “Big Girls Don’t Cry,” “Walk Like a Man,” “Candy Girl,” “Ronnie” – all smashes! When lead Frankie Valli demanded a solo turn, Crewe & Bob Gaudio wrote and Crewe produced “Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You,” eventually becoming the century’s fifth most played song. Crewe ran hot with artists from Vicki Carr, Oliver, Lesley Gore to Mitch Ryder, co-writing with Charles Fox the soundtrack for Jane Fonda’s film, “Barbarella”. Then his own Bob Crewe Generation exploded with Music To Watch Girls By. In 1972 Bob was in L.A., where he revived Frankie Valli with “My Eyes Adored You” by Crewe & Kenny Nolan. They also co-wrote Patti LaBelle’s “Lady Marmalade” (#1, July ’75) – to re-hit again from the soundtrack of Moulin Rouge (#1, June ’01). Credit: David Ritz.

Elice with Marshall Brickman wrote the book for the Broadway musical Jersey Boys, which received a Tony Award nomination and a Drama Desk nomination for best book for a musical in 2006. With Roger Rees, he wrote the popular thriller Double Double, which has been translated into 16 languages.

He wrote Leonardo’s Ring (London Fringe, 2003) and Dog and Pony (New York Stage and Film, 2003). Elice was creative director at Serino Coyne, Inc. (1982–2000), where he produced advertising campaigns for more than 300 Broadway shows including A Chorus Line and The Lion King. He was a creative consultant for Walt Disney Studios from 1999–2009.

In 2008, he co-wrote Turn of the Century with Marshall Brickman. The show was directed by Tommy Tune and premiered at The Goodman Theatre in Chicago in September 2008.

Elice collaborated with Brickman once again, this time writing the book for the musical, The Addams Family. After a successful run at the Ford Center for the Performing Arts Oriental Theatre in Chicago, The Addams Family opened on Broadway on April 8, 2010, at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, starring Nathan Lane and Bebe Neuwirth as Gomez and Morticia Addams.

He wrote Peter and the Starcatcher, based on the 2006 novel of the same name by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson, which opened in California in 2009 and played off-Broadway in 2011. The play moved to Broadway, opening at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre on April 15, 2012. Peter and the Starcatcher received nine Tony Award nominations, more than any new American play in the history of the Tony Awards. On June 11, 2012, the play won five Tony Awards. The play enjoyed a successful tour throughout North America in 2013–14.

His most recent collaboration with Brickman was for the film of Jersey Boys, directed by Clint Eastwood and released by Warner Brothers in June 2014. Brickman and Elice wrote the screenplay, adapted from their book for the stage musical.

A new musical, Dog and Pony, with book by Elice and music and lyrics by Michael Patrick Walker, had its world premiere at The Old Globe in San Diego in June 2014, starring Nicole Parker, Jon Patrick Walker, Heidi Blickenstaff, Beth Leavel and Eric William Morris, directed by Rees.

Elice wrote the book for a new musical based on the early life and career of Cher, titled The Cher Show, which opened at the Neil Simon Theatre on Broadway in December 2018, starring Stephanie J. Block, Teal Wicks, Micaela Diamond and Jarrod Spector, directed by Jason Moore. The show received two 2019 Tony Awards, for Best Costume Design (Bob Mackie), and Best Actress in a Musical (Stephanie J. Block).

Jerry Mitchell directed and choreographed Elice’s next musical, My Very Own British Invasion, based on the teenage years of Peter Noone of Herman’s Hermits fame. The show premiered on February 10, 2019 at Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, NJ.

In 2019, Disney Theatrical Productions announced that Elice and Tony winner Bob Martin would write the book, and Tony winner David Yazbek would write the score, for a musical adaptation of William Goldman’s revered novel and cult film, The Princess Bride, for Broadway.

Bob Gaudio is an American songwriter, singer, musician, and record producer, and the keyboardist and backing vocalist of the pop/rock band the Four Seasons. Gaudio wrote or co-wrote and produced the vast majority of the band’s music, including hits like “Sherry” and “December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)”. Though he no longer performs with the group, Gaudio and lead singer Frankie Valli remain co-owners of the Four Seasons brand.

McAnuff is a two-time Tony Award-winning director and former Artistic Director of the Stratford Festival. Broadway: Summer, Doctor Zhivago, Jesus Christ Superstar, Guys and Dolls, Aaron Sorkin’s The Farnsworth Invention, Jersey Boys (Tony and Olivier Awards for Best Musical), Billy Crystal’s 700 Sundays (Tony Award for Best Special Theatrical Event), Dracula, the Musical, How to Succeed…, The Who’s Tommy (Tony and Olivier Awards for Best Director), A Walk in the Woods, Big River (Tony Awards for Best Director, Best Musical).