Big laughs on tour lead to a fun night on stage for the lads and lasses from smash hit show New Jersey Nights. Singer William Hazell took a rare quiet moment to speak to Helen Geraghty.

Learning words and harmonies for more than 20 songs has been a lot of hard work for the four singers from New Jersey Nights.

But forget all that when these lads get on stage, because suddenly it’s all about the feelgood.

The touring show is billed as a ‘musical journey’ celebrating the greatest hits of New Jersey 1960s musicians Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons.

And for the newest of the four singers, William Hazell, 30, a good old celebration is exactly what the audiences have come to expect.

“To be fair we seem to be lucky with the audiences. There’s a lot of interaction between the cast and the audience and the more the audience give us, the more they seem to enjoy it.”

Lancashire-born William has only been with the show for a few weeks and was in at the deep end, with a series of dates in Dublin.

He says: “The show is basically a celebration of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, so if that’s your kind of music, this is the show for you. By the end people are singing along and dancing.

“There is a mixed audience, in fact, it is more mixed than you might expect. A lot are people who have grown up with the music. I think it brings back memories for people. One way or another, people will recognise this music.

“It is a fun one to be in.”

William appears with Damion Scarcella, Simon Schofield and Jon Hawkins, the four belting out all of the Four Seasons hits, including Sherry, Rag Doll, Can’t Take My Eyes Off You, Big Girls Don’t Cry, Walk Like a Man, Dawn, Silence is Golden, and Oh What a Night.

He says: “There must be 20-plus songs to learn, so you learn the lyrics and then learn which bits you are doing. All the songs apart from solos are four-part harmonies so there’s always something to be thinking about. When we’re on tour we come in early, go over stuff, maybe tweak a harmony.

“But we do have a laugh on tour, the chemistry is really nice and we have six dancers with us on tour.”

So how does the show compare with the more familiar West End production, Jersey Boys, also the story of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, which has just moved from London’s Prince Edward Theatre to the Piccadilly Theatre?

William says: “There seems to be room for the two shows. I’ve seen Jersey Boys, it tells the real-life stories. Our show, New Jersey Nights is much more focused on the songs. We don’t get bogged down in the story. This is more about the ‘feelgood’.”

New Jersey Nights comes to Tunbridge Wells Assembly Hall Theatre from Monday, March 17, to Wednesday, March 19. Tickets from £23.50. Box office 01892 530613 or book online on www.assemblyhall theatre.co.uk