May 29, 2010

Rick Faugno’s ‘Songs My Idols Sang (And Danced) Tomorrow & News About Upcoming Show with Joyce Chittick!

May 29th, 2010

Rick Faugno
Rick Faugno rehearses a dance number for the debut of his first solo show, “Songs My Idols Sang (And Danced).” (Photo Credit: Leila Navidi)

Great story by Mike Weatherford in the LVRJ: Rick Faugno saw a picture of the South Point’s showroom on the Internet one day and proceeded to pull off something very rare.

The “Jersey Boys” star put his own money on the line for a solo showcase, “Songs My Idols Sang (and Danced).” He filled the room, with paying customers, not slot-clubbers. And he did it six times during the past nine months.

“The first time was pretty terrifying,” Faugno says of the opening show Labor Day weekend. “I might just be taking a bath. What if no one showed up? I was just concentrating on doing it once and hoping it was good.”

It was no small risk. Remember, he wasn’t a “name.” The Palazzo’s “Jersey Boys” was a huge calling card, but no stars are billed above the title.

Neither was there the buffer of a charity or not-for-profit organization, which usually serves as the focal point when Broadway performers venture out for a side project.

But retirement-age locals responded to Faugno’s tap-dancing tribute to an earlier era of show business at a modest ticket price.

“I don’t know if it really started for me as a business venture. I think it turned into that,” he says. “I don’t think I really appreciated what kind of work goes into putting your own show together, and my show is really on a small scale. I’ve learned so much about the business side of things.”

Sunday will be the final time Faugno plans to perform in this format, but he vows to be back by late summer with a new vehicle, sharing the stage with fiancee Joyce Chittick.

“Now I feel like I’m a proven entity down there and they’re really behind me with the things I want to do. Which as an artist is the best place you can be.” …

Rick Faugno will be performing his fabulous one-man show, “Songs My Idols Sang (And Danced)” tomorrow at the South Point Casino in Las Vegas. Visit Southpointcasino.com or call 702-797-8055 for tickets.

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