Nicolas Dromard’s Jersey Boy a far cry from Mary Poppins

Bad boys don’t cry.

Nicolas Dromard learned that. He is the Ontario-born actor who plays vintage heel Tommy DeVito in the Jersey Boys production that kicks off this week in Toronto.

“Of course it’s nice to be the good guy and have the people cheering you on, but that shudder that you get when you know they’re really looking for you is even better,” Dromard said on the phone from Boise , Idaho, where the show takes place on tour,

DeVito is the worm in the apple in the saga of how Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons became world famous and his gambling addiction finally broke the group apart.

“Yes, he’s a real eye-catcher,” laughs Dromard, “but it can be a lot more fun to play.”

Dromard knows because he saw “now both sides” in the words of Joni Mitchell.

The last time he appeared on a stage in Toronto, he played Bert, the lovable chimney sweep in Mary Poppins.

“It’s really great to play a guy like Tommy who is different from Bert in every way,” he says.

Dromard is only 34, but has had a professional music theater career for 15 years that one could envy.

It started when he was 18 years old singing for the Radio City Christmas spectacle in Branson, Missouri.

“I heard they were looking for young dancers for the West Side Story in Stratford and I thought, ‘Man, this gig just needs to get better.’ ”

So he crashed the auditions and impressed director Kelly Robinson and choreographer Sergio Trujillo so much that they cast him as a big deal.

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Dromard joined the famous Toronto company Mamma Mia! shortly thereafter and toured North America with it. Then he went straight to Broadway and made his New York debut with the Trevor Nunns Oklahoma Choir! He then became part of the ensemble of The Boy From Oz, in which Hugh Jackman slapped his bottom every night during the curtain as part of the choreography.

Dromard returned to Toronto shortly to be part of the Hairspray cast here, but it was time for him to leave the choir and he did so on a grand scale, starring the young romantic lead Fiyero in Wicked, both in the San Francisco Company as well as on tour.

But it was in Mary Poppins that he really caught the lightning bolt in a bottle, bewitched everyone, and actually danced upside down around the proscenium arch.

And now it’s Jersey Boys and another challenging lead on a hit show.

“There is no secret (to success),” says Dromard. “It’s a combination of many things. I was in the right place at the right time, I work hard and I train hard. Yes, and I think luck has a little to do with it. “

He won’t choose a favorite role because, as he says: “To be honest, I ask myself with every new experience in my career: ‘Could it get any better?’ and the answer is always: ‘No way!’

“And then the next big thing comes and proves I was wrong.”

If Dromard’s success has a downside, it’s that he spends so much time on the streets, living from hotel room to hotel room, but with Jersey Boys he’s found a way to break that monotony.

“The four of us try to rent a house together whenever possible. You can cook and do laundry and have buds to be with after every show. “

On the show, DeVito is raked over the coals for being the worst roommate, leaving wet towels on the floor and using up all of the soap. Is Dromard guilty of the same weaknesses?

“Under no circumstance!” he says emphatically. “I am very clean and tidy. I leave my character on stage. “

And he will soon be saying goodbye to this character.

“I’m saying goodbye to the tour on January 25th and moving back to New York. I’ve turned down any other work on the street for a while. I’m satisfied with not being on the road for a long, long time.

“I would like to be available to develop new shows in workshops. This is my next big dream: developing a role on Broadway.

Jersey Boys runs December 17 through January 4 at Ed Mirvish Theater, 244 Victoria St. Visit mirvish.com or call 416-872-1212 for tickets and information.