JERSEY BOYS – The Story of Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons is the story of how four blue collar boys from the wrong side of the tracks became one of the biggest American pop sensations of all time.  Frankie Valli, Bob Gaudio, Tommy DeVito and Nick Massi joined forces to become The Four Seasons, writing their own hits and developing their unique sound to sell over 175 million records before they were 30!

The show’s producer, Rodney Rigby said “Auckland will join the world’s leading cities to host JERSEY BOYS.” More info about the show at www.JerseyBoysNZ.co.nz

In Auckland thousands gathered at Auckland’s War Memorial museum despite the heavy rain. A parade to the cenotaph at Auckland Museum by veterans began at 5.45am and was followed by a dawn service.  In this picture two veterans shelter from the rain under an umbrella kindly provided by a spectator.

The crew members took part in a farewell ceremony at Auckland’s Market Square where the vakas and voyagers were blessed by the kaumatua and the skippers took part in a kava ceremony.

The traditional 22m-long vaka make up a pan Pacific network of voyaging societies recapturing traditional Pacific voyaging and navigational skills. The network is supported by Okeanos, a German-based philanthropic organisation which promotes the protection of the world’s oceans and marine life.

The five vaka – Gaualofa (Samoa crew), Uto Ni Yalo (Fiji), Haunui (Pan Pacific), Te Matau a Maui (New Zealand) and Hine Moana (Pan Pacific) – will rendezvous with their sister craft – Marumaru Atua (Cook Islands) and Faafaite (Tahiti) at the Tuamotu Islands, French Polynesia, later this month and the fleet will then sail to Hawaii to attend an international environmental conference.

The second leg of the journey will see the vakas continuing to North America, returning via the Cocos Islands, Galapagos, French Polynesia, the Cook Islands, Samoa, Tonga and Fiji, with the ultimate destination of the Solomon Islands for the 11^th Pacific Arts Festival in 2012.

The vaka, which each carry 16 crew, were built at Salthouse Boatbuilders in Auckland and blend modern boat building technologies with traditional Pacific craftsmanship. The hulls are constructed with e-glass and foam and the super structure is wood. The sail locker includes traditional flax sails and modern gennakers.

He dedicated his performance of Nessun Dorma to the staff at North Shore hospital and in particular to the Intensive care unit charge nurse who found his vein (apparently his veins are tough to find) in order to administer the antibiotics without which he wouldn’t have been released. The audience was visibly moved as he told them that the charge nurse who treated him had lost his mother in the CTV building in Christchurch that collapsed during the earthquake.

Here we have one of the many pix from the show, with Paul Potts, Dame Malvina Major and Elizabeth Marvelly. Some more of the pix are here.