August 28, 2005 (Oh What A Day!) My good friend Charles Alexander and I were invited to attend the recording session for the cast album of Jersey Boys, a once in a lifetime opportunity. I had no intentions of writing about this; however, after it was over I felt that I had to share this experience with whoever else had an interest. Please understand that I am not a writer, I lack those skills as well as those of a good interviewer. No notes were taken so I have nothing to reflect upon except my memory. I hope that you enjoy the story, those of you whom are editors, please forgive my errors. Early Sunday morning, August 28, 2005, the cast and production crew of Jersey Boys descended upon Right Track Studios in NYC, a fairly new and state of the art facility. When I arrived at 9:00 AM the production staff was already in place and the recording cast members were trickling in. At 9:30 AM the recording session started, 11:00 hours later the session came to a close. A long day of recording completed by some very talented individuals. Producer Bob Gaudio now had the ingredients with which to complete his task of producing the Jersey Boys cast album. There were some early glitches including lack of some audio to the headphones of the performers and no communication from the control room to the musical director in the recording room. The studio staff corrected these problems quickly. During the day people came and went. Attendees included JB writers Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice, with Rick playing an integral role during the session. Other attendees included financial backers of the play, relatives, guests, and a representative of Rhino Records. Last but not least I must mention the presence of Bob Gaudio’s wife Judy and Bob’s daughter Danielle. Placed in full view for all to see was that day’s full page, full color NY Times ad. Impressive indeed, I could tell that the production crew was very proud of it. A video team arrived around midday and taped some of the recording session and conducted interviews with cast members and the production team. I overheard talk that the video may be used for a possible documentary and short clips will probably appear on the Jersey Boys web site. During the session, when short pieces of dialog were being recorded, the actors were asked to do multiple takes altering each take just a little. Sometimes the actors would go a bit overboard, which brought bursts of laughter to the control room. There were times during the session that when I closed my eyes and allowed myself to drift back about 40 years, I had a sense of being at a 1960’s Four Seasons recording session. Ron Melrose, who was very entertaining as we watched on video monitors, expertly conducted the cast. Ron is the play’s Musical Director. Steve Orich ably assisted Ron, the two of them staying in sync throughout the day. When necessary Steve would play lead and chord tracks on an electric piano connected to the cast headphones. Steve is in charge of Orchestrations for the play. At the time of my arrival I was invited to feel at home and partake of all that was available. There was an abundant array of fruit and snacks available. This was followed by a catered lunch that was top notch. I made sure that all of those working that day put on the feedbag before I gorged myself. To my self-satisfaction was the realization that the GILG web site has been and continues to be visited by the cast and crew of the play. Most of the cast was familiar with the site and one cast member told me that the site is visited for historical research. To totally make my day, I was thanked for my efforts. My sincerest thanks to Danielle, though she had never met me before she treated me as she would a life long friend. Thanks Danielle. Frank Rovello