Jersey Boys Blog

During columnist Robin Leach’s vacation, many Las Vegas celebrities are taking over his section of the Las Vegas Sun. Earlier this week, three JERSEY BOYS cast members were featured columnists. Below is a sneak peek:

Jason Kappus: We humans are all about having a dream and making it happen. That shiny ideal that dawns on you as an 8-year-old or a high schooler or in the midst of your mid-life crisis. But what if you have two dreams?

I realized one of mine my first year in college — a little late by the standard in my profession.

My name’s Jason Kappus, and I play “Bob Gaudio” in the Paris Las Vegas production of “Jersey Boys.” I began working in the business right out of college, and I’ve been acting professionally for the last 10 years.

I’ve played regional theaters, national tours, Broadway and now Las Vegas. I am literally living my own and many other peoples’ dream. But I want more.

My other dream is the classic — the American dream, if you will. Yes, traveling the country performing is fantastic, but what if I want a house? A dog — 2.5 kids? Well, I had a dog and an amazing wife, but I honestly wondered how practical the other stuff was going to be.

A lot of the people I meet seem to wonder this: Do actors get to have a normal life? Well, yeah, but it can be tricky! Before moving to Las Vegas this February, my wife and I spent the previous two years touring with “Jersey Boys.”

We didn’t want to be apart, but this was a really good gig for me, so I packed up the wife and dog, we threw our stuff in storage, and we hit the road. It was a fun adventure, and we had a blast together.

John Salvatore: As a performer in “Jersey Boys” for six-plus years, maintaining freshness and spontaneity doing eight shows a week is always a challenge. One of the main tools I use for keeping mentally focused and present onstage is my daily yoga practice. Not only do I practice yoga once a day, I also have been a certified Bikram yoga instructor for 13 years, teaching five to six 90-minute classes per week.

At 52 years of age and after many years of being a dancer, I have a quite a few battle scars physically and mentally. The physical being an occupational hazard, the mental from overcoming injuries, rejection and many disappointments. I’ve had numerous broken bones, knee surgeries, a double hernia repair, and my hips have been replaced with titanium.

And that’s life, for which I am grateful, because all of this made me who I am, and I wear these battle scars with pride.

Lauren Tartagla: Hi, my name is Lauren Tartaglia, and I am an actress in “Jersey Boys” at Paris Las Vegas. “Jersey Boys” is my whole world. Obviously. To everyone else, though, we performers might seem a bit odd or rare.

I was living in New York, I auditioned for “Jersey Boys,” and I did what any actor would do. When I was offered the job, I took it. I took it, and my fiance and I left everything we knew behind and moved — to Las freaking Vegas.

That was six years ago.

An expat is technically “a person who lives outside their native country.” That’s how I felt at first. You do what you have to do in this business to survive, to make a living, to be an artist. But guess what? Something happened that I never expected.

I love living here!