Actor Jarrod Spector’s starring function as Bono in The Cher Show (opening Dec. 3) is the most recent in an uncommon stage profession: He has spent the previous decade taking part in solely pop music-related characters.
Frankie Valli, Jersey Boys
“You’ve got to get that glass-shattering, strident falsetto,” says Spector of the Four Seasons frontman’s immediately recognizable voice. “That sound is so damn specific. I learned a lot about rock singing by listening to Frankie.”
Barry Bann, Beautiful
Spector frolicked with Mann himself, informing his tackle the “neurotic, comic Jewish” songwriter, who wasn’t often known as a vocalist. For “We Gotta Get Out of This Place,” his massive quantity within the Carole King bio-musical, “I largely simply listened to The Animals.”
Sonny Bono, The Cher Show
“Sonny was a little pitchy sometimes,” says Spector with fun. “You can’t think of him as a serious singer.” His presence — particularly his “wicked sense of humor” — is extra key to channel. “When we come out and sing ‘I Got You Babe,’ I want it to be as authentic as possible.”
This article originally appeared in the Sept. 15 issue of Billboard.
