More than one year and 500 performances after opening at the Palazzo, Jersey Boys has proved that Las Vegas audiences appreciate Broadway-style entertainment—or that they at least love the Four Seasons.

Jersey Boys is part musical, part behind-the-scenes expose of life as a member of the Four Seasons in the 1960s. Actor Jeff Leibow plays bassist Nick Massi, who joined New Jersey singers Frankie Valli (played by Rick Faugno), Bob Gaudio (Erich Bergen) and Tommy DeVito (Deven May) to form one of the most famous quartets in pop music.

The musical’s storyline follows the four singers as they struggle to find fame, and also depicts what happens after the group rises to stardom. Along the way, Leibow, Faugno, Bergen and May sing the Four Seasons songbook, from “Sherry” to “Who Loves You.”

Leibow recently spoke to Casino Connection about the show’s success—and its memorable soundtrack.

Jersey Boys plays every night but Wednesday at the Palazzo Resort Hotel Casino. Tickets are $62.70, $95.70, $139.70 and $199.73.

Casino Connection: How did you land the role of Nick Massi?

Jeff Leibow: I was about to move to New York with my wife. When I got home from our expedition trip to introduce her to the city, a friend of mine told me they were auditioning people for Jersey Boys, and that there was a Las Vegas and Los Angeles audition coming up.

We decided to see the show, did the research, called the casting director, and I got an audition in Las Vegas. From there, things happened the way they rarely do in theater: Everything lined up. I had a great audition and a great call-back in Las Vegas. The director wanted to see me in Los Angeles. After that audition, I sent a quick e-mail to the casting director. She called me back, and I went to New York for an audition a few months later. Two and a half months, three cities and six auditions later, I had the part.

You’re playing a character that is not only based on the life of a real person, but a character that has also been played by many other actors. Do you compare your performance to the original Nick Massi, or to those other actors?

When I was coming up with what to do, I had a couple of thoughts in my head because I’d seen the show a couple of times. When I saw the show just before the audition, that actor played the character differently than what I had in my head.

I got all the interview footage and concert footage of Nick Massi I could find. Whenever we had an opportunity to talk to Frankie, Bob and Tommy, we would ask them questions. I have yet to sit down and speak with Tommy about Nick. For the most part, I was doing the work on my own. I didn’t have the chance to see what [other actors] were doing differently.

The guy who was playing it [in New York] is no longer with the show, but he played it very differently than me. I think I add a little bit more humor in the role than he did. Part of that comes from the direction and part of that comes from the footage of Nick Massi. He always had a smile on his face.

Nick Massi died in 2000, well before Jersey Boys took to the stage. Do you feel in a sense that you are preserving his legacy?

A little bit. The difficult thing about it is that I didn’t get to meet him. Taking on that kind of responsibility is probably more difficult now than if I did get to meet him. I don’t know how to portray him. There is not a lot of information about him or people who want to talk about their relationship with him, except for Frankie.

But not having met him, I feel I have the freedom to throw in what I think I should put in the show. Tommy said I was doing a great job portraying Nick.

Erich and Deven had quite a bit of time to talk to [Bob and Tommy] about their life and the show, information that they might need to play them on the stage. They had the chance to do a character study, how they move, how they walk, how they speak. Rick Faugno had plenty of time to sit down and talk to Frankie, and has been able to give him a call and ask him questions.

What was the training process like to replicate the singing style of the Four Seasons?

Just learning all the songs in the show was the first step. There’s an enormous number of songs in the show, especially for a musical. Normally in a musical you might have 20 fully realized songs. There’s over 30 in Jersey Boys.

After learning the songs, they broke us apart, pulled the four of us away from the rest of the cast and forced us into a small semi-circle so we could really hear each other. We only rehearsed for just a few weeks in New York. We didn’t have much time, so they tried to really focus us in on how we sound as a group and mimic the Four Seasons as much as possible.

A lot of it comes from theater magic. The real Four Seasons would double the voices and, in Frankie’s case, sometimes triple the voices. To mimic the voices we have people sing the parts underneath us to mimic that sound. Bob Gaudio wanted that. To match the Four Seasons sound, we have those voices behind ours.

A lot of audience members who see Jersey Boys were not even alive when the group was originally popular. Why do you think the Four Seasons songs still resonate with so many people?

I think music at that time was just different. A lot of the music today is almost disposable. Songs come and go so quickly. You can go onto iTunes and grab a song, and tomorrow grab three more. Back then, you really eagerly awaited the release of an album.

Watching the show plays a huge part in keeping people excited, even if they don’t know the story. They get to see the story. Seeing that story makes the music even more interesting than it already is.

Do you find playing the same character several nights a week for a year repetitive? How do you keep the performance interesting?

This is my first foray into a long run like this. The most of I’ve ever done is regional theater, where at most you’re performing for 10 weeks at a time and then the show is done. I was concerned when I first started if I would be able to keep things fresh.

I think the more you realize that every night that you step on stage, this audience is seeing you for the first time. On top of that, you’re playing real people. You’re portraying their lives. There is that responsibility. It keeps it exciting.

As we went on stage for our 500th performance, I realized that it’s not getting old. I’m enjoying every week, finding the nuances that maybe I missed or trying to find the connections between characters that were there in the first place but doing the show so many times you forgot and are finding again. There’s so much to play with. There’s so much in the show to keep your interest

The show has been playing for just over a year now. Why do you think Jersey Boys has been so successful?

I think probably most importantly, there’s a history of the music here in Vegas. The Four Seasons have played here; they’ve played with Frank Sinatra. Frankie Valli has come here on occasion. There’s just a history here. I also think the music is of a genre that really just fits into Vegas, both classically and contemporarily. It’s just music that works in this town.

Jersey Boys as a show is much different than other Broadway shows. I think it’s really more of a behind-the-scenes kind of show. One of the reasons it might work with some of the younger audiences is because it’s very reminiscent of VH1’s Behind the Music. These are shows that people watch. They’re interested in finding out the back-story. So the show itself is much more compelling. It’s not a musical; it’s a play about these guys, where the music is used to introduce you to the history. It’s a great story.

By Caitlin McGarry