Talented actor is to become a Jersey Boy

Oh, What a Night it will be for a former Alnwick student when he walks out on stage for the first time to star in his latest show.
Daniel HopeDaniel Hope
Daniel Hope

Because talented Daniel Hope has landed the lead role of The Four Seasons frontman Frankie Valli, in the critically-acclaimed jukebox musical, Jersey Boys.

While the 27-year-old is no stranger to performing in major productions – having graced the West End in the musicals Wicked and Matilda – he says it is his biggest role to date.

Daniel HopeDaniel Hope
Daniel Hope
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And by his own admission, it is a dream come true, as he is a huge fan of Jersey Boys.

The part will see Daniel take to the high seas, with the show being performed on a Norwegian Cruise Line ship.

The Alnwick-born performer, who is now based in London, will fly out to Florida next month for rehearsals before starting the seven-month run in September, travelling to the likes of the Bahamas, Alaska, Canada and Mexico.

And he can’t wait.

“It is amazing and I am buzzing,” he said.

“I actually auditioned for the understudy and then the call came in saying that I would be playing the Frankie Valli lead.

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“I thought it was a mistake and I asked my agent to go back and check and it was confirmed that they weren’t making a mistake and I had got the main part.

“It is so exciting and it is my biggest part to date. To be honest, I don’t think you can get much bigger than playing Frankie Valli.”

The award-winning musical tells the story of Valli and The Four Seasons. It features massive hits such as Sherry and Walk Like a Man.

Daniel said: “It is my favourite show – I’m obsessed with it.

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“I didn’t know that much about it until I first saw it and then I was like, this is my kind of show, and I didn’t know this song and that song was by them. I’ve seen the show so many times, in the West End and on Broadway.

“While this version of the show is on a ship, it is the same as the stage musical.”

Frankie Valli, along with the original members of The Four Seasons, were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990 and the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 1999, and the legendary frontman is known for his unusually powerful falsetto voice. With that in mind, how are Daniel’s high notes?

“They’re okay,” he said. “I have been for a few singing lessons with Jersey Boys’ original vocal coach. He was amazing and has helped a lot.

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“There are so many great songs in Jersey Boys, but I think the one I am looking forward to singing the most is My Eyes Adored You.

“It is such a beautiful and touching song and it is nice and chilled. But saying that, I am looking forward to singing all of them, because I absolutely love them all.”

After leaving Alnwick’s Duchess’s Community High School in 2009, Daniel went on to study musical theatre at Performers College in Essex, before landing a part in Wicked.

Initially a member of the ensemble and understudy for Boq, he successfully landed the Boq lead in September 2015.

A year later, he changed shows and took on the role of Michael Wormwood in the musical adaptation of Roald Dahl’s Matilda.