Beautiful: The Carole King Musical will be appearing at the Philadelphia Academy of Music March 22 through April 3 as part of the Kimmel Center’s Broadway Philadelphia series. The Wall Street Journal has called it, “out of control amazing!” John Michael Dias is a member of the Ensemble in this Tony, Grammy, and Olivier winning musical. He had a chance to talk about his role in Beautiful: The Carole King Musical.

Ralph Malachowski: Tell us about yourself, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, how did you get the role and what do you do?

John Michael Dias: I guess I’ll begin with my twelve years in community theatre and my years as a choirboy. My grandmother was really into theatre. She was a volunteer at the Fall River Little Theatre. She was in charge of the wardrobe for many productions. One day, they needed a few boys for their production of The Music Man. She said, “I know a boy!” and there I was, and I was hooked. I loved it.

I grew up in Rhode Island, but Fall River, Massachusetts, was right across the river. Fall River is a big Portuguese town, so being Portuguese, I grew up there. I had heard about Boston Conservatory, and off I went. My first professional gig was in a Disney production called Encore, which went to Tokyo. I was in the first national Oklahoma tour in 2003, followed by Jersey Boys in 2005. I was a part of Jersey Boys for seven years. I was Frankie Valli. I then went to audition for Beautiful: The Carole King Musical. I was lucky, and got into the ensemble. It was great, because we knew months before we began touring that we would have a job, which doesn’t happen very often.

Everyone in the ensemble has a prominent or featured song. As Neil Sedaka, I sing “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling.” As Lou Adler, I wear a beard and moustache. I have – let’s see – I think I have eight costume changes, complete with facial hair and wigs. It’s amazing to think that the show covers only a decade, from 1964 to 1974, and that Carole King went from writing songs to being a famous performer. It attests to her genius to do that in less than a decade.

RM: Have you ever met Carole King?

JMD: Yes, I did meet her. Carole King came to see us in Boston. We had no idea who the “special guest” would be who we were to meet. Security was tight, and we asked ourselves, “Who is it going to be?” Carole King couldn’t have been nicer or more down-to-earth. She made it a point to see the show three times: when it opened on Broadway; when it opened in London; and when we began to tour. When we met, I blurted out that I played Neil Sedaka. She looked sort of surprised, and then said something like, “Yeah, I thought that was sort of weird.” You see, Carole and Neil dated twice when they were young. He wrote “O, Carol” for her.

RM: After Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, what would you like to do next?

JMD: Well, we’re only six months into our tour, and we still have a while to go. I’m really enjoying what I’m doing. I guess I would really like to originate a role, especially if it happens to be on Broadway. I guess that’s my dream. I’ve always played a ‘60s matinee idol, having played Frankie Valli for years on tour. I guess it’s because I have really good hair. I also recorded a CD a while back, called Wright This Way, my choice of twelve of my favorite musical numbers from Broadway musicals. I’m proud of it since Kickstarter contributions made it all possible.

RM: Inquiring minds really need to know the answer to this most important question: single or married?

JMD: I’m in a relationship for some years now with a wonderful guy. We first met when we were both cast members on Jersey Boys. He’s an instructor for Flywheel.

RM: Well, you’ve just disappointed hundreds of potential admirers crowding the stage door after every performance offering you stock portfolios and vacation homes.

JMD: (Laughing) I doubt very much if anyone would do anything like that, even if I were single.

RM: What do you look forward most when you visit Philadelphia?

JMD: I look forward to returning to Philadelphia. I have great memories of the city when I last appeared here in Jersey Boys. Philadelphians are great.

For more information, and how to buy tickets for Beautiful: The Carole King Musical.