The smash Broadway hit Jersey Boys is coming to Rochester this May, produced by OFC Creations as part of their Broadway in Brighton Series.
The show tells the true story of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, and it’s packed with huge hits including “Big Girls Don’t Cry,” “Oh What a Night,” “Sherry” and many more. It’s a fantastically entertaining show, but you’ll want to be in the audience for another reason as well: you just might recognize one of Webster’s own, Webster Schroeder 2011 grad Adam Marino, who’ll be playing the lead role of Frankie Valli.
OFC Creations’ production of Jersey Boys is kind of a homecoming for Adam. If you’re a regular attendee of Schroeder musicals and dramas, you might remember him from the shows he did his senior year, when he played in The 25th Annual Putman County Spelling Bee and The All Night Strut.
Even though Adam dipped his toe in theater while in high school, it took him a long time to really discover performing as a passion. In college he originally started studying psychology, but eventually found his way to musical theater, “on a whim.” He graduated in 2016 and hasn’t stopped performing since, doing various theatrical productions, theme parks, cruise ships, commercials, short films and concert shows.
But one of the coolest things he got to do, he said, was to tour the country with The Diamonds for four years.
The Diamonds have been around since 1954 and they have three gold records (Silhouettes, The Stroll, Little Darlin’). Little Darlin’ actually hit #2 in 1957 (right behind Elvis’ All Shook Up). Being able to be a part of a group with such a rich history was incredible. On top of performing in the group, I got to share the playbill, as a member of The Diamonds, with groups such as The Four Aces, The Crystals, The Lettermen, and the Glenn Miller Orchestra.
But lately, Adam has been touring the country as Frankie Valli, a role he dreamed about for a very long time.
It all began one evening in early 2012 when the show came to Rochester. His friend Paul Urriola told him about the show and convinced him to go.
I knew, quite literally, nothing about the show,” Adam remembered. “I sat down, and remember being like “oh my goodness, this show is about this short Italian guy who sings high.” I was immediately obsessed. I went out into my car after and tried to see if I could sing like that, and I couldn’t. I then went “I’m going to teach myself how to do that.“
If you ask anybody who talked to me for the next 10 years, it was at the forefront of my mind: “I’m going to play Frankie Valli in Jersey Boys.”
Adam finally achieved that dream in July, 2022, when he took the stage as Frankie in Jersey Boys for the first time at the Millbrook Playhouse in Mill Hall, PA. Since that inaugural performance, Adam has performed the role more than 230 times in 11 productions in Pennsylvania, Florida, Georgia, California, Virginia, Vermont and Ohio.
He wrote,
What I love about the show is it’s gloves off, nothing held back approach to the true rise and fall of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. The book is incredible, and the music is timeless. Plus, as a short Italian guy with a falsetto, it’s easy to see myself in the role. One of the coolest moments of doing the show is singing “Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You.” You watch all of these people hold the hands of their significant other and look into each other’s eyes. It was all of these people’s first dance songs at their wedding, the song they associate with their person, and there is something so beautiful about that.
Being able to be Frankie in the first Rochester produced production is nothing short of an honor, and one of the coolest things to ever happen in my life. It really is something that I don’t have the proper words for, but it’s euphoric. I actually have met, and worked with, a couple of people who I saw in that production in 2012 in my professional career. Bringing this all back to Rochester is tremendous. I couldn’t be more excited.
It’s one of those remarkable full circle moments that I feel only exists in the movies.
I speak from experience when I say how good this show is. Remember when Adam said the first time he played Frankie Valli was at the Millbrook Playhouse in Pennsylvania? Well, my daughter (who’s friends with Adam) and I made the three-hour drive and saw the show. We didn’t have any idea it was Adam’s first go-round as Frankie, and we were blown away. It was like the role was made for him. We’re both really looking forward to seeing it again, and seeing Adam Marino in the lead.
OFC Creations’ production of Jersey Boys will take place May 8 through 25 at the OFC Creations Theatre Center Main Stage, 3450 Winton Place. Click here for showtimes and ticket information.
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By the way, Adam isn’t the only face you’ll recognize onstage if you go see Jersey Boys at OFC Creations. Webster Schroeder graduate Paul Urriola ’12 joins Adam in the cast, playing loan shark Norm Waxman/Ensemble. You may remember when Paul played Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof his senior year at Schroeder.
Paul is as excited as Adam to be doing this show.
He wrote,
This production is so, so special to me. Adam and I saw the Jersey Boys national tour together a million years ago at the Auditorium Theatre. It was one of those experiences that started both of us down our current paths/careers. I’ve been so proud of him playing this role (and so many others!!) across the country and getting to now be in the show together after all these years just feels like a beautiful full circle moment.
This is the first time Adam and Paul have worked together professionally. The only other time they performed together was in 2011 when they acted in The All Night Strut in the Willink Cafetorium.
“Finally sharing a stage with Adam again,” Paul wrote, “doing Jersey Boys of all shows, under Eric Vaughn Johnson’s direction – in our home town, which helped shape us into the artists we are today – is quite literally a dream job.”
So there’s two good reasons, Webster, to catch this show. Aside from the fact it’s just an awesome show with great music. (Or did I already say that….?)
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(posted 4/16/2025)
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