Bwarie '99 headlines musical Jersey Boys

Each evening, actor Joseph Leo Bwarie '99 arrives at the theater at about 6:45 pm, fills his water bottle with Propel and ice ("the way I like it"), stretches his muscles and warms up his voice, applies his makeup and fixes his hair. When he steps onto the stage, his perfect diction gives way to a Jersey accent that is as authentic as the streets of Newark. When he starts to sing, cheers from the capacity house raise the roof.

For the past two years, Bwarie, 32, has captivated audiences with his portrayal of the iconic Frankie Valli in the hit musical Jersey Boys, which chronicles the life and times of one of the most successful singing groups of the 1960s –Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. Bwarie opened in the Las Vegas edition of Jersey Boys and now stars in the first national tour, which has made stops in Toronto, San Francisco, Dallas, Seattle, Las Vegas, and a host of other cities. (In addition, Bwarie performed on the 2009 Tony Awards with the four other North American actors playing Frankie.)

When Bwarie learned the show would hunker down for a 10-week stint this fall in Boston, he couldn't contain his excitement: Bwarie would be working at the Shubert Theatre, just a block from his beloved alma mater. After all, he credits a good deal of his success to the faculty at the College: "I use so much of what I learned at Emerson in Jersey Boys," he says. "I really loved it here."

College days
Attending Emerson is one of the very brightest moments in Bwarie's life. "Those four years were a highlight of my life. I would never trade them, and I would love to do them over again," he says with a charming smile. "Coming back it's so neat to see how the school has grown.

I made a lot of lifelong friends here."In the theater department, Bwarie recalls "everyone was on board with the same philosophy of honesty and truth in the work that you're doing. It was a Dream Team of faculty, and all of them had such a vested interest in the students and what we were doing, imparted so much knowledge, and were so available to us."

During the Boston leg of the Jersey Boys tour, Bwarie spent free time visiting campus and reconnecting with former teachers. "I think I created relationships that were professional as well as personal. We weren't a number at this school. Everyone has a name and a face."

Bwarie has kept in close touch with teachers and classmates over the years. "I can email the faculty with a random question. Like, I have this audition, what would you suggest…' The great thing with Emerson is you find ways to work with each other even though the years are going by. You run into tons of people who are Emerson grads. Here in Boston I will come out of the stage door and people will say, 'I went to Emerson!'"

Well before his college days, Bwarie had amassed a lengthy acting resume. Growing up in Sherman Oaks, Calif., with two siblings, his mom and dad, Bwarie first performed professionally at age 9 on Michael Landon's TV series Highway to Heaven. He continued to work as an actor and studio singer through his high school years, lending his voice to feature films such as Radio Flyer, The Last of the Mohicans, and Alien 3.

When it came time to choose a college, Emerson was high on Bwarie's list because
"Emerson was not a conservatory and I didn't want to go to a conservatory. I wanted to be well-rounded." During college Bwarie spent spare time performing as a singing waiter aboard the Spirit of Boston harbor cruises. "There was a live band, so you're dropping off salads and then you're singing 'It's Not Unusual.'"

After graduation, Bwarie returned to the West Coast and created a theater company in Los Angeles that he called Red Banister Productions, paying homage to the fire-engine-red banisters at the College's Brimmer Street building.

If Bwarie ever tires of wowing musical-theater audiences, he has other skills to draw on: he has directed theater and written 8–10 short musicals. "It all kind of gets under my skin. I love all of it and I love that I can wear different hats. I haven't decided yet that this is the one path."

Until then, Bwarie must content himself with being part of "Club Frankie" and nightly bringing down the house.