[Photo 1: BEN BOGEN. Photo credit: Ted Ely Photography.]
Here at Camp Broadway, we can’t take our eyes off of JERSEY BOYS, the Tony-Award-Winning Best Musical hit celebrating the loves, lives, and music of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons.
The musical recently finished its 2017-2018 National Tour and will launch a new tour with a new cast this fall.
We caught up with the recent company’s Swing and Frankie Valli Understudy, Ben Bogen, at Broadway San Jose in CA, as he reflects on his journey as an actor and his year-long experience with JERSEY BOYS. Check it out!
CB: Congratulations on an amazing run of JERSEY BOYS! How does it feel to call yourself a veteran of a touring Broadway show?
Ben Bogen: It’s just so surreal, because I literally saw touring shows here at Broadway San Jose when I was in high school! Eight years ago, I saw the national tours of SPRING AWAKENING and LEGALLY BLONDE here, and I thought: ‘Oh, I hope I’m good enough to do that one day!’ And you know… as you get older and you study theater, or musical theater, or whatever, and you move to New York, you start to meet people who are in the shows that you admire… and you realize they’re just normal people like you. And it’s a welcoming theater community. And then you start to think: ‘Well, if they can do it, then I can do it!’
CB: What sort of obstacles have you had to overcome during your journey to JERSEY BOYS?
Ben Bogen: I’ve gotten a lot of ‘no’s. I actually was told by—they will remain nameless, but someone involved in the Broadway company years ago—that: ‘You’re too tall to ever be a Frankie. That’s not really your part…’ And it was right before I was about to graduate college! So, I was like: ‘Oh, wow, OK, I guess it’s not my show’—because they used to say 5’8’’ or shorter for Frankies, and… well, I’m 5’9’’. So I used to think, ‘OK, well, it’s not my part, it’s not my role, fine,’ and I kind of had accepted that. And then it wasn’t until this tour came around that they called for an actor 5’9’’ or shorter.
CB: When you first saw that opportunity for this tour, what did you do? What happened?
Ben Bogen: I messaged my agent, and I was like, ‘I think I can do this! I know I’m really young, but I think I can do this!’ And then I waited through six rounds of callbacks…
I had a vocal virus during my final callback, and I was on steroids, and I still had to do my work session where they put you on tape and send the videos to the real Frankie Valli!
CB: Wow! That must have been nerve-wracking!
Ben Bogen: Well, I never saw his reaction…. But, I got cast!
But I did do a Skype coaching with the real Bob Gaudio, who’s 78 now, and that was really interesting… He has his way that he wants you to sing things and phrase things, and so it’s just an hour of me standing on Skype with the real Bob Gaudio—from his studio in Nashville—and he’s like: ‘Hey Ben, how’s it going?’ And I’m like: ‘Pretty good, Bob… Gaudio…’ And he’s like: ‘Let’s start with this…. Now let’s do “Sherry.” Now let’s do…’ And he just has me sing the whole show for him! And I’m thinking: ‘OH MY GOD, please like me! AAAHHH!’
So, yes, that was terrifying. But I get to grow up being able to say: ‘I got to sing for Bob Gaudio!’
CB: And all of your hard work paid off. You gave an amazing performance as a swing in the production. In your words, what does a swing do, and what advice can you pass on to aspiring actors?
Ben Bogen: A swing understudies multiple parts, and usually isn’t a part of the ensemble every night. Anyone aspiring to be a swing needs to be O.K. with not performing, and then suddenly be able to handle stress and be ready at any moment!
For all performers, the most important thing is practice. A lot of voice lessons. And learning not to take ‘no’ for an answer. I had a lot of people who told me: ‘Oh, you’re just gonna be a really great dancer/ensemble member forever.’ I didn’t think I was capable of being a leading man. If you’d asked me 2 ½ years ago, I wouldn’t have believed I could do it. But I practiced and stuck with my dream. And if there’s anything I could emphasize, it’s this: never doubt yourself! Take those fears and channel them into motivation!
You heard it, Camp Broadway readers! Practice, stay motivated, and believe in yourself. It just may land you a Broadway role!
And remember: swings are vital to Broadway productions. Next time you’re in the theater, give a swing some love: they deserve it!
[Photo 2: BENANDANNA]
Have you seen JERSEY BOYS? What positive messages did you learn from it? Tell us in the comments below!
Special thanks to Ben Bogen, from Anna Allport and Camp Broadway, for this delightful interview!