Jersey Boys is returning to Cardiff’s Wales Millennium Centre, and the actor stepping into the iconic role of Frankie Valli is ready to make his mark on one of musical theatre’s most beloved shows.
Luke Baker takes on the lead role in the touring production, playing the Four Seasons frontman whose falsetto voice and rags-to-riches story have kept audiences coming back for years. It is no small task. Frankie Valli is one of those roles where audiences already know every song, every beat, and every high note before the curtain even goes up.
So what is it actually like to step into those shoes?
Baker has spoken about the pressure and the privilege of playing a real person, someone who is still alive and whose music has soundtracked generations of lives. Getting that voice right is obviously a massive part of it. The soaring falsetto on tracks like Big Girls Don’t Cry and Can’t Take My Eyes Off You is instantly recognisable, and there is nowhere to hide when the audience knows exactly what it should sound like.
But Baker has said the job goes well beyond just nailing the singing. The show traces Valli’s life from the streets of New Jersey through the chaos of fame, fractured friendships, and personal heartbreak. There is real emotional weight to it, and Baker has spoken about wanting to bring genuine humanity to the character rather than just doing an impression.
Jersey Boys has been pulling crowds since it first opened on Broadway back in 2005. It won four Tony Awards and went on to become a West End hit before Clint Eastwood turned it into a film in 2014. The stage version has never really gone away though, and touring productions keep finding new audiences who connect with the story.
Part of the appeal is probably how grounded the whole thing feels. This is not some fantasy musical. It is a story about four working class lads from New Jersey who somehow became one of the biggest acts in the world, and then had to deal with all the messy fallout that came with it. Debt, betrayal, tragedy, and a whole lot of incredible music.
Cardiff audiences have always responded well to the show, and the Wales Millennium Centre is one of those venues that genuinely suits it. The building has built a strong reputation for quality touring productions, and Jersey Boys fits right into that.
For Baker, playing Valli on a stage like that is clearly a career highlight. He has talked about the responsibility of representing someone’s real life story in front of a live audience every night, knowing that some people in those seats will have a deep personal connection to the music. Some will have grown up with these songs. Some will have seen the show multiple times already and will be comparing this version to others they have watched.
That kind of scrutiny could be daunting, but Baker seems to be embracing it. The songs are so good that if you can do them justice, the audience is with you from the start.
The production brings the full Four Seasons story to life, covering the band’s rise through the early 1960s, their string of massive hits, and the complicated relationships between the members. The show is structured around each of the four main characters telling their own version of events, which gives it a sharp, almost cinematic quality that keeps things moving.
If you have not seen Jersey Boys before, Cardiff is a great place to catch it for the first time. And if you have seen it before, well, there is clearly something about it that keeps people coming back.