Daniel Reichard who plays 'Bob Gaudio' to leave show on 6 Jan 2008

Daniel Reichard is to end his two year run in the Broadway musical Jersey Boys, when he leaves the show on 6 Jan 2008.

Reichard made his Broadway debut when he originated the role of Bob Gaudio in the musical, for which he was nominated for the 2006 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical. He is leaving the show to star in the New York City Opera's production of 'Candide' which is to open in the Spring of 2008.

There has been no announcement about who will replace Reichard, who is the first of the original featured cast to leave the production.

Jersey Boys is the story of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons: Frankie Valli, Bob Gaudio, Tommy DeVito and Nick Massi, about a group of blue-collar boys from the wrong side of the tracks who became one of the biggest American pop music sensations of all time. They wrote their own songs, invented their own sounds and sold 175 million records worldwide - all before they were thirty.

Winner of the 2006 Best Musical Tony Award about Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, Jersey Boys is written by Marshall Brickman & Rick Elice, with music by Bob Gaudio, lyrics by Bob Crewe, and is directed by two-time Tony Award-winner Des McAnuff, choreographed by Sergio Trujillo, with Orchestrations by Steve Orich and Music Direction, Vocal Arrangements and Incidental Music by Ron Melrose.

The cast of Jersey Boys features Tony Award winner Christian Hoff (Tommy DeVito), Daniel Reichard (Bob Gaudio), J. Robert Spencer (Nick Massi) and Tony Award winner John Lloyd Young (Frankie Valli) as The Four Seasons, and Tituss Burgess, Heather Ferguson, Steve Gouveia, Peter Gregus, Donnie Kehr, John Leone, Michael Longoria, Mark Lotito, Jennifer Naimo, Dominic Nolfi, Erica Piccininni and Sara Schmidt.

Jersey Boys is produced on Broadway by Dodger Theatricals, Joseph J. Grano, Tamara and Kevin Kinsella, Pelican Group, in association with Latitude Link and Rick Steiner/Oshen/Staton/Bell/Mayerson Group.

Jersey Boys debuted at the La Jolla Playhouse, running from 5 Oct 2004 through to 16 Jan 2005, with an opening night on 17 Oct 2004. It became the most successful production in the history of the playhouse, extending three times.

The musical opened on Broadway at the August Wilson Theatre on the 6 Nov 2005, following previews from the 4 Oct and is currently booking to the 28 Sep 2008.