JADAR

Ahead of Jersey Boys returning to Manchester, we sat down with Luke Baker, who plays Frankie Valli.

So, Jersey Boys has been around for a long time now and it’s garnered quite a cult following. What would you say makes it so special? 

“I think the best thing about this show is that it literally is for everybody, especially for the guys who get dragged along to the theatre by their wives. It’s one for the blokes! It’s a real insight into Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons and what really happened. Everything we say in the show is true. It’s a brilliant night of theatre, to be honest. It’s won countless awards across the world for good reason. It’s fantastic. It paces really well. The songs are amazing. What more is there to say? It’s a brilliant show and we’re really excited.”

And you’re playing Frankie Valli. How does it feel to be donning the red blazer? 


“Yeah, it’s a really challenging role as you’ll see. It’s a sort of pinnacle role in musical theatre. It’s an iconic role, an iconic guy, and an iconic band, and we do our best to tell the story as well as we can.

“It’s constantly on across the world, and it’s got fans and a cult following that have seen it hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of times, and they see you at stage door. They like to tell you what they thought. It’s really great. And so far so good… Everyone’s really enjoying it. I mean, there’s people that have Jersey Boys tattoos, or they keep count of how many times they’ve seen it and who their favourite Frankie is, which is great because they come back, and we need people to come back to the theatre. That’s how the theatre business runs smoothly.

“And there’s fans of all different types of shows, and that’s the beauty of musical theatre, isn’t it? There’s all these shows, and this one really appeals to a lot of people for various different reasons; whether it’s just the music, or they like the story, or Nick Massi makes them laugh, or Tommy DeVito is a bit of them, or whatever. And all the four guys in the band are all such different characters. 

“Obviously, the band is called The Four Seasons, and the show is set out so that each of the band gets an address to the audience, and we name that in their season. So, it starts with Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter, and we tell our story and our side of what happened. So, that’s quite interesting, from an audience perspective because, we say in the show, if you ask four different guys the same question, you’ll get four different answers.

“It’s an old technique. You address the audience and you take charge of this section. And then Tommy takes charge at the start, and then it goes to Bob Gaudio, who’s the songwriter. And then we go into Nick Massi and his perspective just before he leaves the band, and finally we see Frankie’s side of it, when he’s a bit older and he’s going through being a solo artist at this stage. His personal life and his family life is very up and down, and there’s a bit of loss and heartache, and they struggle to keep the music going, because they accumulate quite a lot of debt with some bad people, and Frankie chooses to take on that debt on behalf of Tommy. It’s a bit of a selfless act on Frankie’s part, and when you work out how much it would be worth now… It’s interesting and it’s this whole sort of thing of families and loyalty.”

Obviously family is an important theme. Do you have a good relationship with the other Four Seasons actors?

“No, I hate them [laughs sarcastically]. Honestly, we’re really lucky. Everyone is so, so good. We’ve just got a stellar cast with every single person. When covers go on, nobody’s worried, because everybody’s so talented. And everyone’s just dead nice. The vibe is great! “

And you’ve auditioned before for Jersey Boys. How did it feel getting the news that you finally got the role?

“Yeah, brilliant! I mean, I’ve been around quite a long time, and I’m getting on a bit. But I first auditioned probably like 2011, 2012 for Handsome Hank, who’s like a guitarist. Back then, he was like an onstage guitarist. And he does the ape song and puts an ape mask on, and he’s sort of like, ‘Let’s just take the band in a different direction.’
And I looked so, so young. and they were like, ‘We can’t… you look like a child!’

“And then just coming out of COVID, it was coming back to the Trafalgar, and I got asked to [I think] audition for Joe Pesci. And then I said to my agent, ‘Well, why don’t we just put me in for Frankie?’  At this stage, I was playing lead roles in different productions, and I was like, ‘Well, let’s see. Let’s put the boat out and see how that pans out.’ I got quite far on the auditions, and I didn’t quite get it. Ben Joyce got it that year, and he’s amazing, and he should have got it as well. He’s an amazing talent. And I didn’t know I could sing Frankie, really, at that stage. But it takes a couple of years just to get your mind around the voice. It’s very unique.

“And then, when I saw that they were doing it again, I just really focussed and got in a one-track mind like, ‘Let’s go again. Let’s see how it goes, put everything into it, do my absolute best and see if we can pull it off.’ And every round, I just made sure that I did my best I could do, leave it all in the room, try not to leave any stone unturned. And I got right down to the finals, and everyone’s in the room that you think needs to see you – the director, the producers – and then they put a microphone on you, there’s a big camera at the back, and I was thinking they must have been filming it for their archives or whatever, and actually, that was for Frankie and Bob in America to approve you. So, my agent just said, ‘Your tapes are just being approved right now.’ So, at that stage, you think, ‘Well, God, if they say no now, that’s a bit of a kick in teeth!’

“But then I waited another week maybe, and then I got a call with an offer. You’re just in a bit of disbelief. And originally, I was like, ‘Is it gonna be the part, or the alternate that they offer, or what?’ I mean, every time you get an offer it’s just a weight off your shoulders, you know? ‘You’ve still got it kid!’ And that I’m not too old.

“It’s hard, and some people find it very stressful doing auditions but all you can do is your best. And you can only control what you can do. It’s the same with drama school auditions or anything, you can’t control if they say yes or no, so all you can do is your best. And in my experience, being available is valuable, especially when you’re working in the business, you go, ‘Oh God, I didn’t get that’, and someone said years ago, ‘That’s just not your job. It’s someone else’s job.’ You’ve got to champion them and go, ‘That’s their path. It’s not my path.’ Something else will come along if you keep the right mind frame. The mindset is key really, and if you get yourself down about it, then the next audition you go into you might be carrying that baggage, so you’ve just got to drop it and move on to the next thing, which is easier said than done, but with time it gets easier.”

How does it feel playing a real-life figure, and one that’s still alive? 

“You have to do your research on these people but also put yourself into it, to a degree as well. And you see, ‘How would I feel in that situation?’ and ‘What are their character traits? What are they thinking”? And just treat it with respect.

“We did Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, with Jamie being almost exactly the same age as we were when it was on. So, that’s harder, because they’re there! And we like watching shows about real people. As much as we like fictional characters, like Elphaba and Mary Poppins, we can’t go, “What did they do? Did this really happen?”

“The best thing about Jersey Boys is that it’s all true. When they were writing it, I think at one stage it was going to be with the music and a different story, and then I think the writers went for dinner with Frankie and Bob, and they just got chatting about all these stories. The fact that they’ve all been in jail at times; they’ve all been mixed up with this, and that happened, and this happened. And they realised, ‘Oh, my God, that is the show. It’s just your life.’ 

“The show moves at such a pace that you dip in and then you move on a couple of years, and you dip into another bit, and you move on a couple of years. You’ve got a treat it with respect, and they’re real people, and people in the audience can relate to that, I think.”

And Frankie Valli obviously has famously tricky vocals and harmonies. I’m guessing a lot vocal care is involved?

“Yeah, I mean, you just got to treat yourself, and this isn’t just for Frankie but for the whole cast, you’ve got to look at yourself like a top athlete. You’ve got to keep yourself fit, keep yourself hydrated, and watch your voice, and if that means you miss a night or you have to be quite silent and start warming up hours and hours and hours before, then that’s what it takes. And for me. personally, I have to keep myself to myself and know that that’s my job. I’ve got to deliver on the night so I can’t be busy myself too much. And I just live a very boring existence where I’m just drinking litres and litres of water, warming up, and humming at every opportunity! And just doing a cool-down after the show or a good warm-up before the show. All the basics.”

Was it a difficult voice to find?

“Well, because I tried it four or five years ago, I realised I didn’t quite nail it but I had it to a degree. You refine it and you sing it in. You listen to it more, and then you figure it out more. And we’ve got a great team that helps with that as well, if you’re ever struggling. And also, like, we’ve got an alternate, Ellis Kirk, and he’s so brilliant, that I sometimes watch him and go, ‘Right, why can he do that bit really easy and I thought it really hard?’ So, I just nick whatever he’s doing! But no, it is just figuring it out, and obviously some shows are easier than others, but you just gotta pull it out and deliver. It’s a challenge, but the reward is great.”

And Jersey Boys has been around for a while now, with its first performance in 2004, and then there’s the 2014 movie. What do you think makes it such a musical staple?

“Well, it’s paced really well, and the audience come along with you, and it doesn’t drag. There’s so many great songs in there that most people don’t realise that all these songs were The Four Seasons. It just works, and when it’s done right and the product is there, it speaks for itself. And it’s so impressive as well, to have these harmonies on stage. And what we don’t have that most shows do now is a click track, where you record it in the studio before you do your harmonies, and that sort of boosts the ensemble and the harmonies. And we don’t have that. Everything you hear is live, which is incredibly impressive.

“And the ensemble – if you can even call them the ensemble because everybody plays multiple roles – as soon as they leave the stage, they do a quick change, and then they’re at the side of the stage singing. It’s constant. It’s amazing to me. And when you watch it out front, you can’t quite believe that it’s all live. And I think, that’s the thing with the show. People relate to it. People love the music. The story is exciting. And ultimately, people just go through all the different emotions in the show, and they just get taken away, and it doesn’t feel like any time to passes because they’re just in there with you constantly in the whole show, which is really great.”

Having auditioned previously, what made Jersey Boys such a big goal for you? Have you always liked they’re music?

“I worked there in front of house in about 2012, and I’d watch it all the time. I thought it was brilliant anyway. And I think when it came along, I thought, it’s a show that I’d love to tick off the list. It’s well within my casting, well within my vocal style and range, a lot of the shows I’ve done have been pop-based, not classic musical theatre, not your Phantoms or your Les Mis’. And I really lie well in the ’60s. I love that era and the music of that era – that’s all I really listen to anyway!

“And if I didn’t get it, I probably would have still sang the songs at gigs anyway. It’s something that will always be in my life to a degree. But to do the show properly as Frankie – it is a dream, and it’s a real box tick. I’ve said it on my social media, and I’ve I said it to people in interviews before, it is a massive box tick, and you really realise that when you do put your mind to it, really go for what you want, not leaving any stone unturned, you can get the jobs or the school.”

Are there any other boxes to tick?

“Yeah, loads! But also it’s about right place, right time. I’m sure that there’s some parts that have passed me by when I was younger, and now I’m not playing teenagers anymore, although we do start Frankie at about 16 years old in the show. So, those parts are gone, and as I grow older, there’s gonna be other parts, or a new show will come along, like the Bobby Darin or Sinatra thing. The other week I was like, ‘God, I really want to play Billy Bigelow in Carousel‘, which is miles off my comfort zone! But I’d love the challenge.

“So, honestly, you never know where it’s gonna take you, and there’s always TV and film. And I think the main thing for me is that it’s a challenge or an interesting part. That’s why I do it. I want to do it because it is challenging. I never, ever want to feel like I’m doing the job for the wrong reasons.

And speaking of acting for television shows and movies would you say the art form influence your approach to the performance?

“Not really. Someone said it’s like volume, not physical volume but your mental volume. For instance, on screen, whatever’s in your head will translate, but that’s not always the case on stage. You can have an amazing actor doing basically the same performance as an extreme close-up and you, as the other actor, go, ‘Wow, they were brilliant,’ but at the back of the stalls, they’re not gonna see that. It’s not about being active but it’s about projecting it to the back. That’s what I mean with volume, as in how big or how little? How much are you painting a picture?

“But really, the fundamentals are exactly the same. Maybe the hardest thing is replicating it night after night on stage, whereas, you could do 20 takes of the same scene on a film and you don’t know which one they’re gonna use. You’re not in control of what the audience will see on the on TV.

Do you think acting’s always been your passion? Was it your dream job as a kid?

“No, I did a show when I was 15… a little show called West Side Story in Wakefield. And I did that for three years, for four weeks per year. We did West Side Story, then we did Fame the next year, then we did Les Mis the next year. And my parts kept getting bigger every year, and then I just got advised by the teachers that I might have a future in this. I wasn’t really brought up going to drama school or going to stage school. I was like a sports kid. But when I started doing stage things, I found it much easier than playing rugby. And being a northerner, everyone’s very dramatic so I just thought it was very normal.

“Then I think we went to watch a show when I was maybe sixth form age, and everyone in the class was like, ‘I can see you doing that.’ And then I was like, ‘God, that’s their job.’ And it sort of dawned on me, and it was probably late because we teach people who are like 6 or 13 at our school, but they’re so much more clued up on it now because, I guess, social media and everything. But I didn’t really understand that that was a career path. and when it did click, I was like, ‘Maybe I could do that professionally.’ When you get employed, I think you think, ‘If it if you get employed once, it might be luck, but after the third job, I was like, ‘This is a career, then? And let’s see where that goes.’

“And I worked right from the bottom; I was ensemble, dancer, covering, swing, and then after about 6 years of doing that, I was like, ‘Let’s see if I can just play the parts now.’ Which is really hard because you’re in much less, and you’re up against people who are much better. In the first couple of auditions, you’re in the waiting room, and you see all these big leading men come in, and you’re like, ‘Well, I guess I won’t be in this one.’ It does take a lot of time and a lot of patience, and it’s the mindset of, ‘You’re gonna get this or that.’ Footloose UK tour was my first big lead on tour, and you’re like, ‘Right, can I sustain it? Can I lead the show? Or is it just in my head? Am I deluded?’ But then when you do it, and it’s a success, you’re like, ‘Well, maybe I do something else,’ and you’re constantly testing yourself. I’m really grateful for it all, but you take it all as it comes.”

And wrapping things up, if you could just summarise Jersey Boys in three words what would they be? 

“Jersey Boys in three words… music, loyalty, and family.”

You can catch Luke Baker in Jersey Boys at Palace Theatre Manchester from September 8 to 19 2026 and on tours the UK until August 21 2027.