Delivering laughs with 'Jersey Boys' gig
Published Thursday November 5th, 2009
Stage: Saint John native Shawn Wright discovers Four Seasons night after night in Toronto show
Saint John native Shawn Wright is a born performer who is making audiences laugh in Toronto's hit Jersey Boys, a show he and some of his fellow actors call "The Sopranos as a musical."
The Dancap Production, running at the Toronto Centre for the Arts, is nearing the first anniversary for the Canadian cast, which was announced on Nov. 18, 2008. Since that time, the story of the four blue-collar guys from New Jersey who became The Four Seasons and changed rock history has been a huge success. The Toronto version is set to run at least till Jan. 3, 2010.
Wright, 48, plays the role of Bob Crewe, the real-life producer who had "the best ears in the business."
"He discovered the Four Seasons' sound and helped them to create million-sellers," Wright says.
"He doubled (lead singer) Frankie Valli's voice in the recordings to give it more body. That had never been done before." Crewe told Valli, "I'm going to make your voice jump out of the radio," and he did.
"He also taught the Four Seasons etiquette and groomed them in the larger sense," he says. "It's debatable they would have gone anywhere without him."
A typical day for Wright involves carefully considering everything he does or consumes that may adversely affect his performance. "You don't do anything that might deter you from having the best show that night," he explains. "Every decision of what you do that day, you say 'If I do this, will it give a performance that is worth a $100 ticket?' "
Paying strict attention to diet, rest and exercise is vital, Wright says. "Your body is your instrument."
Fortunately for Wright, "I don't really have to sing in the show - I can be easier on myself."
He takes the subway from his home on the south side of Toronto north to the theatre. No one notices him on the way up, but some audience members recognize him on the way home, he says. "They're thrilled to see someone from the show."
Wright says his mother Regina Wright was an early influence on his performing career. "My mother was an amateur actress," he says. "I'd watch her onstage as a child. In the Maritimes, you learn to tell a good story and to know where the punch line is. Perhaps it's a Maritime thing."
The youngest of seven children, Wright says, "You had to fight to have your say."
Wright spent the first 22 years of his life in Saint John. He played Friedrich in The Sound of Music when he was a 15-year-old student at St. Malachy's Memorial High School. He didn't see his first professional play till he was 18.
The 25-year-old veteran of Canadian stage has no formal training.
"Initially, it was a handicap," he acknowledges. "But my teachers told me I had a natural talent."
The road leading to Jersey Boys saw him perform in the original American cast of Mamma Mia!, Ragtime on Broadway with the legendary Joel Grey, the stage premier of Lord of the Rings, lead roles at Stratford and the Shaw Festivals, and performances in Les Miserables, Guys and Dolls, Pal Joey and Oklahoma!
Wright says the biggest challenge he faces in his current gig is getting 1,500 people to laugh at the same jokes each night.
"On some line, if I move my hands or move one inch during a line, I'll get the laugh." If he doesn't do that, the line falls flat, he says.
"If you stress one word over the other, you can have the whole audience in your hand." But if you don't, there is silence. "It's a mystery," he says, quoting the oft-spoken line in Shakespeare in Love.
Wright credits two teachers with being instrumental in nurturing his career. One was Ilkay Silk, a teacher in St. Thomas University in Fredericton. The other is Ted Daigle.
"He's passed away now. They were two university professors who prepared me for auditions. And it worked. I started getting jobs."
Wright says he learned his craft from closely watching such great Canadian actors as Brian Bedford and William Hutt.
"They were guys who could give a comic line with seemingly no effort," he recalls. "I would go back and see how they did it. They'd pause before delivering the line, and I learned from that."
His character Bob Crewe is a driven perfectionist, but Wright believes most strongly in human kindness.
"It will always pay off," he adds. "Acting is all about teamwork, being kind enough to know when it's someone else's moment to shine. It's the same in life."
He makes that belief a part of how he interacts with fellow actors in the show.
"That belief comes from my mom and dad," he explains. "There's a Maritime personality that believes in not getting bigger than your britches.
"Some of the most talented people crash and burn because they weren't nice to others on the way up," he adds.
Although he's riding the crest of the hottest stage musical in Toronto, Wright knows the ride will come to an eventual end. Then he will begin the other side of theatre life - auditioning for new roles.
An actor has to have the emotional make-up for show business, he believes. "You have to learn to deal with the fear of financial planning, with rejection, with not being the flavour of the month," he says. "You have to deal with transience, with ageism, with your agent telling you "They wanted someone better looking."
He says women have it tough because there are fewer good roles for them when they get older.
But for now, Wright says he's excited about the roles available to him.
"They have more spice and less stage time, which is fun. The responsibility to carry the show is not there any more."
As for his future, he plans to continue acting to the end of his career. "I'm a lifer."
"I knew that was the truth when I was young. I didn't have a resumé then, or the training. But after watching me audition, the casting directors and the directors knew I was built for acting," he says.
"I knew then I had found my niche."
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