"Jersey Boys" | Getting a feel for Frankie

"Jersey Boys" concerns four blue-collar guys from New Jersey and their tenure as the successful Four Seasons pop group.

So the guy playing Frankie Valli, the Four Seasons lead singer with the stunningly high, potent falsetto voice, should be the star of this hit Broadway musical — right?

Right. But at any given "Jersey Boys" performance in this touring run at Seattle's 5th Avenue Theatre, you may see one of four different actors as Valli.

Christopher Kale Jones is the official leading man, handling the majority of shows. But this polished actor-singer doesn't have to "break a leg" to get a night off.

At least twice a week, Zachary Prince takes over as Valli, whose unique vocal sound fueled such Four Season smashes as "Rag Doll" and "Dawn." And on occasion, understudies Courter Simmons and Taylor Sternberg fill in.

Why? Because of the role's monster vocal demands.

"In most shows the leading man sings six or seven songs, but in 'Jersey Boys' I sing 27 songs," explains Jones, a dramatic tenor with strong regional theater credits.

Extra degree of difficulty: Much of the crooning is in a high-wire falsetto, the top of Valli's remarkable singing range.

Reaching that nosebleed register without shredding your pipes challenges every Frankie, on Broadway and on tour. Then there's the trick of portraying an actual person, while making the character your own.

For Jones, 29, that process began before he even snagged an audition for the Tony Award-winning show's first national tour.

"I started learning the music as soon as I became aware of the show on Broadway. I auditioned several times, and on my final call back had to sing five different songs and act several scenes."

Once cast, he met with Valli and studied the singer (now in his 70s) in action at a gig. "Frankie listened to a lot of jazz as a kid and wanted to be the next Sinatra," Jones notes.

"But he altered his style to create this pop voice that caught on with the Four Seasons.

"When you watch him live, and in old Four Seasons footage, you see he's not interested in showiness. He's always been more of a serious musician, creating a story in the song by doing things like popping and stressing the words, playing with the rhythms."

Meeting Valli also helped Jones portray some of the darker events evoked in "Jersey Boys" — the wrenching breakups of the band and Valli's first marriage, the drug-related death of the singer's daughter.

"Frankie's a wonderful person, so easy to talk to, but you sense that behind the eyes there's a sadness," Jones observes. "For most of the show's second act, he's trying to help pay off debts, help out his friends, and deal with the pain in his personal life."

"Jersey Boys" director Des McAnuff and Bob Gaudio, a founding Four Seasons member and the group's chief composer, exercise major quality control over the show. And all three actors this critic has seen — one on Broadway, two in Seattle — have been excellent as Valli, each in his own way.

Jones is a powerful singer, though his falsetto's not quite as piercingly stunning as Valli's can be. And he has considerable stage presence to convey the singer's sex appeal.

Simmons is a more consistent vocal match for Valli but not as charismatic.

The actor who had it all in spades — the look, the musical chops, bravado, vulnerability — is John Lloyd Young, a Tony-winner for the original Broadway version, who recently left the show.

But if "Jersey Boys" alters a bit given who's playing Frankie, it's so skillfully written and staged, and its music is such a blast from the past, such variations are easily absorbed.

And at heart it's an ensemble piece, with Seattle co-stars Deven May and Erich Bergen doing yeoman work as Valli band mates Tommy DeVito and Gaudio, opposite the three Frankies.

As for Jones, after a year doing "Jersey Boys" (in San Francisco, L.A. and now Seattle), he has a regime to protect his voice: no caffeine or alcohol most days, regular workouts, a diet low in refined sugar, carbs and dairy.

"This is the hardest show I've ever done," he admits. "And it's also really rewarding."

Misha Berson: mberson@seattletimes.com