Backstage with Corey Greenan

Broadway in Houston is bringing another classic to town as Jersey Boys settles in for a weekend engagement at The Hobby Center. I was fortunate enough to get a hold of Corey Greenan, who plays Tony DeVito, and ask him a few questions about tour life with this show. Greenan, a California native, has been on the move for the past few years, barely even seeing his home in New York — but thankfully, he had time to talk to me. 

Nick Bailey: How has this role been different from previous roles that you've taken on?

Corey Greenan: This role of Tony DeVito is my favorite role I've ever played. It's such a fun role. And what's so great about this show too is that each of the four seasons has their chance to tell their version of what happened and how they got where they got. And so what's great about this show though is that I get to start out the show talking to the audience, and it really gives it a fresh experience each and every night, cause each and every audience is going to be different. You get to play this character who, yes, gets into a lot of trouble — he gets the band into some trouble. He's described as a prick in the show but at the same time he's got an element of charm and hustle that got him as far as it did for sure. So I think it's a fun dynamic to play.

NB: How has it been, taking on the role of a real person?

CG: That's one of the unique aspects of this show as well. Three out of the Four Seasons are still alive, including Tommy. While the creatives like our director and they don't want us to be doing impressions of these people or caricatures of these people, we really do have the freedom to bring ourselves into the role. But at the same time you're telling someone’s story, so there's a — I don't consider it pressure — but there is a certain responsibility to really work hard to make it honest. This is a real person who made these decisions for real reasons, and I think it's important to do your best to show it from their perspective. The choices that your characters make on the page were made by a real person who's still around and could come see it.

(l to r) Michael Milton, Jon Hacker, Eric Chambliss and Corey Greenan. Photo by Joan Marcus

NB: With this being such a pivotal role for so many people, how have you and the cast gotten into shape vocally for this show?

CG: Well, you know, we’re out on the road a lot and traveling through different climates and always in hotels and airplanes and buses, so the possibility of getting sick and getting tired is always there. The guy playing Frankie Valli, he goes through a pretty strict regimen of warm ups and cool downs and voice lessons to keep that voice where it is because it's such a unique sound on his end. But I really love singing these harmonies and singing these songs cause you just get to create this sound with the four guys up there on that stage every night. It's really quite a pleasure to be able to sing these songs the way we get to.

NB: Given the history of The Four Seasons, have you and your castmates done anything to build any sort of bond or rapport amongst yourselves?

CG: Yeah! In the early stages of rehearsal, we definitely worked together to really create that band mentality that these guys had. Everything that they went through added to their experience and their band, even the fights and the disagreements and stuff. But what I think adds both [bond and rapport], especially with this particular production, is the touring aspect. There's so much talk of how these guys toured together for years and years and they were going to a new hotel every night, and you wake up and you don't know where you are sometimes. Then you go to the show, finish the show and you tend to be like, ‘Oh, what are you going to do? Just go back to the hotel, you know.’ These are aspects of the show that we live on a daily basis, and I think that really informed the connection that we have on stage with not only each other, but with the material that we're performing. I really do think it adds to that traveling band aspect cause we are very much this traveling group.

(l to r) Michael Milton, Eric Chambliss, Jon Hacker and Corey Greenan. Photo by Joan Marcus

NB: How has the traveling been? I know for a lot of people, tour life can be very daunting, but you said that you've been on tour pretty much nonstop for a while now, right?

CG: Yes. Four years ago in 2016, I toured for a year with ‘If Then,’ a Broadway production, and then immediately following that I joined the Jersey Boys tour and I was in the ensemble for a year and then I took over as Tommy and I've been playing Tommy for the last two years and this is my third year. So in those five years, I haven't been anywhere longer than two months. I particularly like the travel. It's not to say there aren't hard days when you're exhausted and you do long for some sort of consistency. But at the same time, I really enjoy it. At this point, we end this tour in Hawaii for two weeks and that'll be the 49th out of 50 States that I've been lucky enough to perform in, the last one being Alaska. I do like living in New York city, but I also love getting out of New York city and I'm sure I'll go back there again at some point, but I'm really enjoying it.It's a really special experience.

NB: Has it been difficult trying to maintain your vocal performance in the different climates across the country? I imagine that Texas weather is very different than Alaska or Hawaii.

CG: It can be difficult. You get up and you make sure you still have really worked hard to get your rest. And there's warm ups that everyone had. Everyone kind of has their own warm up regimen before the show, so it really is just monitoring your health. I and with Tommy too, he tends to yell a lot on stage, so I've got to watch that too. Not to say we don't have moments where the voice just flows and then you call out, but I don't know. I don't find it too difficult to maintain, but it is something that certainly takes a certain amount of effort.

Jersey Boys will be on stage at The Hobby Center in Houston February 7-9. 

WHO: Memorial Hermann Broadway at the Hobby Center
WHAT: JERSEY BOYS
WHEN: February 7 - 9, 2020
Fri at 8 pm | Sat at 2 & 8 pm | Sun at 2 & 7:30 pm
WHERE: The Hobby Center | 800 Bagby | Houston, TX 77002
TICKETS: Start at $40 and are available online at TheHobbyCenter.org or BroadwayAtTheHobbyCenter.com