Growing up in Staten Island, New York, Jeff Tracta (www.jefftracta.com) remembers watching legendary "Man of a Thousand Voices" Rich Little on TV, and hearing his dad say, "This guy is the greatest impressionist in the world. When he goes to work, he makes people happy. Whatever you do in your life, make people happy."
Since debuting his explosively funny, cutting edge multi-media show "A Journey Through Pop Culture" as the opener for Liza Minelli in October 2011, the master impressionist has been incorporating that poignant seminal moment of his life into a whirlwind tour impersonating your favorite celebrities from TV, film and music.
On April 24, Tracta brings his 100+ hilarious spot on impressions - from Bruno Mars, Usher, Ray Romano, Adam Sandler and the entire cast of "Family Guy" to Black Eyed Peas, Eminem, Lady Gaga, Billy Joel and Elton John - back to the room where it all began, the LVH Theatre at the Las Vegas Hotel and Casino.
He is sharing the one night only musical and comedy extravaganza with five piece country a capella powerhouse Home Free, winners of Season 4 of NBC's "The Sing-Off" who just released their major label debut Crazy Life.
Tickets are on sale now and priced between $49-100 plus tax and service charge (http://www.thelvh.com/calendar/298-jeff-tracta-home-free--together-1-night-only). Premium seats ($100 tickets) include a VIP meet and greet with a CD giveaway.
Tracta last headlined a showroom in Vegas in May 2012, when he performed at The Pearl Concert Theatre at the Palms Casino Resort. Tracta has since performed hundreds of corporate gigs for thousands across the U.S., including such prominent destinations as Mandalay Bay, Red Rock and other five star resorts worldwide.
"A Journey Through Pop Culture" is co-created and produced by John McEntee, President and Founder of TEI Entertainment, who is one of the nation's leading talent buyers and producers; McEntee negotiated and secured a 5-year contract (with options) for America's Got Talent winner, musical ventriloquist Terry Fator, to perform at the Mirage.
The impressionist prominently showcased his versatility and slick choreography during his two years headlining the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino with "Jeff Tracta Live!" "I had already been toying with the idea of becoming all the members of classic boy bands like *NSYNC," says Tracta. "John saw this show and proposed the idea of creating a new show that better utilized my ability to be different people, transforming myself physically on screens behind me so that there was a full group and cast of characters around me onstage at all times. Once the idea for a state of the art, multi-media presentation took shape, which included filming in 3-D, John helped push me as an impressionist to my vocal limit. He wanted me to sing like Andrea Bocelli and Sarah Brightman. I never thought I could do that, yet before you know it, I was!"
"'Journey' has been very successful in the corporate world and I'm excited to bring it back to Vegas," he adds. "I think people respond enthusiastically because they're aware it's one guy up there, yet they're watching him transform himself vocally and physically into so many people at once - including Fergie during the Black Eyed Peas segment. The show also has a warm, nostalgic value for those who grew up when I did, and is a reminder that we're all in this together."
Home Free co-founder and baritone Chris Rupp says, "The group is really excited about doing this show with Jeff and we're looking forward to a fun evening. Fans who just know us from 'The Sing-Off' are always surprised at the comedic bits we do and we can't wait to see the way Jeff masters the mix of music and comedy live. The whole night is like one big celebration of what can be done with the human voice."
Another reason performing in Las Vegas is special to Tracta is that it's the city where he first performed his impressions onstage and received the initial encouragement that led him to create shows around it. The first of these was "Agency," an autobiographical one man show he performed at L.A.'s Coast Playhouse, which was produced by Charles Randolph Wright, who more recently directed "Motown: The Musical"on Broadway.
Tracta, who launched his multi-faceted career in TV, film, stage and music playing Thorne Forester for eight years on the daytime drama "The Bold & the Beautiful," was part of a "Soap Stars Come Out At Night" show at the legendary Sands hotel. "I got onstage and did all of my impressions," he says, "and they brought the house down . . . literally! The entertainment director said I had a career if I wanted it. The Sands was imploded not long after but that stayed in the back of my mind until the right opportunity presented itself."
Tracta's galaxy of impressions and the many famous people he morphs himself into onstage is reflective of his expansive resume, which reads as if it details the career of a multitude of performers. As a recording artist, he made three albums which achieved triple platinum sales status worldwide and led to performances in Holland, Switzerland, Italy, India, Finland, Germany, Belgium, South Africa . . . over 30 countries total.
He made his Broadway debut playing Danny Zuko in "Grease," starred as Prince Charming in Rogers & Hammerstein's "Cinderella" at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood and also played lead roles in "The Phantom of the Opera" (The Phantom), "Bye Bye Birdie" (Conrad Birdie, opposite "Golden Girl" Rue McClanahan), "Little Shop of Horrors" (The Dentist) and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamoat (Joseph). Tracta has also made numerous TV appearances and has performed on behalf of numerous charities, including the Alfred E. Mann Foundation; at one of the foundation's galas, host Jay Leno called him "the best celebrity impressionist around."
"The through line in 'A Journey Through Pop Culture' is the story of my childhood, where my dad sold TV sets at Sears, and we didn't have a lot of money but we always had the biggest TV in the neighborhood. So I was really able to zone in on doing the voices of all of those live and cartoon characters. I always think back to what he said about Rich Little. My whole life I just wanted to make people happy. So I always ask people after the show, 'Are you happy?' Because that's what this is all about."
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