Rick Faugno, Song & Dance Man: Living The Dream

Until Rick Faugno actually said it aloud, I didn't quite realize that the "song-and-dance" man is today a part of the past and, judging from Faugno's act, that is indeed a pity.

(It's not, by the way, that I am either unconscious or dumb. It's just that the Broadway and (to a lesser extent) movie musicals were so much a part of my love for theater that I probably didn't think too  much about it; I assumed they're still as they once were — ever-present and ever-glorious.)

Faugno's show Songs My Idols Sang (And Danced) is filled with memories. He brings the spirits of Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly and — most beautifully — Sammy Davis, Jr. back to the stage in a very well-crafted autobiographical piece.

As an eight year-old in New Jersey, Faugno fell in love with musical theater. when he injured himself playing sports he made the decision to give up sports and study dance and theater. Blessed with understanding parents and outstanding teachers, Faugno (that's pronounced "Fawn-Yo") got his first part at the age of 12 in The Will Rogers Follies on Broadway. He played Judd Hirsch's son in the Herb Gardner play Conversations With My Father and has appeared in regional theater across the USA. At the moment, he's a Las Vegas Strip fixture playing Frankie Valli in the terrific Jersey Boys.

But, last Sunday the the showroom of the South Point Hotel and Casino he got to live his dream and be "Rick Faugno, Song-and-Dance Man."

The music in the piece is framed by his own story — how he discovered theater (Starlight Express was sold out and hhis parents took him to see Jim Dale in Me and My Girl), his studies, auditions, the parts he played and various and sundry people he met along the way, including Tommy Tune, Voigt Kempson and socialite Dorothy Paley (whom he met at Sardi's when his parents brought him into "the City" to audition for Will Rogers) and those who influenced him — composers Comden and Greene and Cy Coleman, among them.

The songs in his show include Cheek to Cheek, I Feel A Song Coming On, Dancing In the Dark, Stepping Out With My Baby, All I Need Is the Girl, Puttin' On the Ritz, Fly Me To the Moon — you get the idea. They were all first-rate songs that had been performed by first-rate singers who could also dance (or vice-versa). Of course, like any Italian kid from Jersey, Faugno loves Sinatra and shared his grandmother's love for Tony Bennett.

But this was no 75 minutes or so of imitation. This was a gifted guy doing what he does very well and, in the best sense, paying tribute to the time, the place and the people.

Faugno attended Professional Children's School and graduated from NYU and, if someone wants to go into musical theater he recommends following hs lead. "People who want to go into theater should read as much as they can, get as much information as they can about the giants, learn about the music and, on top of that, school is an important thing. Very few people have the talent to just go out and do it without studying," he says.

There is a terrific seven-piece band under the baton of Jersey Boys conductor Keith Thompson on piano. These musicians— all but one from Jersey Boys — include  Dan Falcone (on trumpet); Don Meoli (drums); Kevin Stout (trombone); Matt Taylor (saxophone and flugelhorn); Drew Zingg (guitar) and Tyler Williams  from Le Rêve on bass

In response to an interviewer's question, Faugno says he's doing the show because this kind of entertainment "is really not around any more and I want people to understand this art form."

Rick Faugno: Songs My Idols Sang (And Danced) will be peformed again at the South Point Casino on Sunday, September 20. With that show already sold out, new dates will be announced soon. Check  www.southpointcasino.com, or at the South Point Box Office located at 9777 Las Vegas Boulevard South, or by phone (702) 797-8055 or (866) 796-7111.

I can promise you flat out: If you love Broadway musicals, you'll love this show.

If you want to get an advance peek, check out  the video on the Jersey Boys Blog by clicking here.

(Photo of Rick Faugno taken at the Neon Musuem in Las Vegas by Joyce Chittick)