In conversation with Shane DeLancey, director of ‘Jersey Boys’ at City Springs

“Jersey Boys” is opening at the Byers Theatre in Sandy Springs on July 12 for a five-week run with City Springs Theatre Company.

The show will run until Aug. 11 and is the regional premiere for “Jersey Boys,” according to a press release. “Jersey Boys” tells the story of the rise of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons from their formation to their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

The City Springs production is directed by Shane DeLancey and choreographed by Meg Gillentine. Each of the four leading men – Haden Rider, Nick Walker Jones, Alec Beard, and JD Myers – are Atlanta area residents.

Rough Draft Atlanta spoke with DeLancey about the production back in June just as rehearsals were beginning. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

What’s your history with “Jersey Boys,” or with Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons?

Shane DeLancey: It’s funny, I took my first trip to New York very late in life. People couldn’t believe that I had never been to New York before. But my first trip was well beyond the “Jersey Boys” Broadway run, but it was still running Off Broadway. I had grown up on the Four Seasons, and Frankie Valli … I grew up on the music. I was a performer, back in a former life, and had done a show touring casinos in the Biloxi area and Gulfport, and all that stuff. Right before I left, I was trying to put together a medley of Four Seasons songs to do as part of a show. But I ended up leaving before any of that happened. So, I’m a huge fan.

On my first trip to New York, the two shows that stood out to me – I think we saw like, 10 shows on that trip. It was a whirlwind – but the two shows that stood out to me were actually not on Broadway. They were Off Broadway productions of “Rock of Ages” and “Jersey Boys” … I love those shows. I’m a jukebox kind of guy anyway, so that helped. Then it turned out this year I got to do “Rock of Ages” and “Jersey Boys” back to back. So I was very excited. And “Jersey Boys” is my daughter’s favorite show. I have to drag her to shows, and this is the first time she’s like, “Yes! I can’t wait to go!”

It’s interesting you bring up jukebox musicals. Obviously, there have been a ton of them and a lot of them are successful, but they don’t always work. From your perspective, and with this show in particular, what makes a good jukebox musical, aside from good music?

DeLancey: For me it always comes down to the story. With “Jersey Boys,” obviously everybody knows the music. But I remember watching that show and being like, all these things transpired that I never knew about. Like, wow – I didn’t know that they were going through all of that. I was talking to Mason [Wood], the marketing director, last night about it, and I said, I think people come for the music, but we want to bring them in with the story.

Then flip it around, and you have “Rock of Ages,” which really has nothing to do with the story. It’s just about rock music and having fun and all that. But in something like “Jersey Boys,” I think it is [important to] bring the audience into all those things they didn’t know before they walked in the building, getting those emotions from them, and staging it and directing it, and pulling those things out … I think that’s kind of what sends it over the top, and makes it different from something like “Mamma Mia,” which is campy and fun, but more in the “Rock of Ages” category. Whereas “Jersey Boys” is telling you a story that makes you feel something.

I would love to talk about the casting process a little bit. I know the main cast is all from Atlanta. City Springs often has a lot of cast members from Atlanta, but it’s not always everybody. Was that important to you for this show?

DeLancey: It’s funny, because I directed “Spamalot” last season, which was the first show that City Springs did that was a local cast. So now I’m back doing “Jersey Boys” with an all local cast, which I think is awesome. I don’t think it was necessarily [on purpose] for “Jersey Boys.” It was for “Spamalot.” We did see all local talent for “Spamalot.” And it just kind of happened to fall into place this way for “Jersey Boys.”

The four guys, the Four Seasons – we had great talent. But when we brought these four guys in together, there was no doubt. The chemistry between the four of them was like, oh – they’re the Jersey boys. They were the second group – we were kind of bouncing people around … then we juggled around a little bit more, and it was like, eh – no, no. Then we brought these guys back in together again. We were like, this is it … so many of them sounded great, but the chemistry between these four guys is what set it apart. I was like, that’s it. That’s what we want to get radiating on stage, is the chemistry between these four guys.

What has been the most fulfilling part of directing the show?

DeLancey: It’s hard to say! We just started. You know, as you go through the process, things that you don’t think are gonna hit you, hit you … For me, knowing it’s my daughter’s favorite show, and being able to do a show she’s going to come see and be proud of me for, is where I am currently.

When you’re directing a show like “Jersey Boys,” that’s been done so many times before, how do you make it stand out from previous iterations? What makes this specific cast and show unique, or different?

DeLancey: I always just feel like I can do it better [laughs]. But I’m always thinking of different ways. Some directors will find a bootleg version of the show, and that’s what it’s going to be. That’s not what I do. I don’t want to reinvent the wheel where I don’t have to, so I’ll [take] where it makes sense from other productions I’ve seen, but I’m always looking for another way, or a different way, or a funnier way. How can I get a better joke in? How can we stage these people where it’s more creative to lead us to the next scene? And that’s not any offense to anybody who has directed the show before, but always finding that better way – or not even necessarily better sometimes, just different way – of bringing that point across, or showing something to the audience.

I work pretty quick initially – because I’m just like, okay, stand here, stand here, let’s do it. And then I start tweaking from there. As opposed to coming in with like, here’s where we’re going to get to – I love a lot of that to happen organically, because, you know, I tell the actors, I don’t see through your eyes. Only you see through your eyes. So I want to see what you see, and then we’re gonna adjust from there. I’m gonna give you the overall look, and then we’re going to take it and we’re going to tweak it.

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