‘Jersey Boys’ star Rick Faugno to tell his story through standards at South Point

Las Vegas theatergoers already are familiar with Rick Faugno's ability to sing '60s rock 'n' roll, thanks to his portrayal of the Four Seasons' Frankie Valli in "Jersey Boys" at the Palazzo.

But, this weekend, fans will see Faugno tackle selections from another, more standards-influenced songbook in "Songs My Idols Sang (And Danced)," a one-man showcase at the South Point.

The show is a sort of mini-musical built around the songs those around Faugno loved and that, as a result, he listened to while growing up.

"It's something I've been wanting to do," Faugno says, "and I'm pretty excited to see it all come together."

The showcase represents a switch for Faugno, who has been performing professionally since the age of 12, when he played Will Rogers Jr. in "Will Rogers Follies" on Broadway. Since then, his career -- which has included "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang," "Fosse" and "Conversations with My Father" on Broadway, as well as national tours of "The Boy Friend" and "Jersey Boys" -- primarily has involved playing other people.

Now, for his first solo show, Faugno says, "it's my life and I'm talking about me.

"I'm telling the story of my life and the people in my life who supported me -- my mother and father, my grandmother, all these people in my life who supported me and have always been there for me and help me get to where I've gotten." Along the way, Faugno will "pay homage to these great entertainers," he says, from Gene Kelly to Tony Bennett to Sammy Davis Jr. to, of course, Frank Sinatra.

Musically, Faugno is a product of a mom who, he recalls, would tune in the pop standards radio station while driving Faugno to and from his Broadway gigs, and a dad, a drummer and tap dancer, who grew up in the '50s but was "more of the generation of the '40s. He loved Louis Armstrong, Gene Krupa, Benny Goodman.

"Those people are the people I grew up listening to," he says. "I grew up listening to that kind of stuff -- big band, swing, jazz, pop standards, classical, opera, Broadway. I didn't listen to any rock and roll music until I was in my high school years."

The songs he'll perform in this weekend's show -- "Embraceable You," "Fly Me to the Moon," "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" -- are, Faugno says, "songs I either heard when I was growing up or I sang them."

In fact, he adds, "I sang a lot of those songs for auditions, or just to learn them."

In preparing the show, Faugno says he "just sort of sat down and started writing about my mother, my father, my grandmother, just putting all these memories onto paper."

And, at the end, Faugno was surprised to find that "I had sort of like a little, mini-script."

"So it's like a mini-musical, a one-person musical," he says. "It's a cabaret, insofar as what you technically can call something like this. But it's really like a musical. I'm telling a story.

"That's the most exciting part of doing this. The whole thing is, I get to tell my story, and it's a little scary and a little exhilarating at the same time, because you're telling your story to people and it's not saying, 'Hey, this is me playing Frankie.' "

In addition to singing, Faugno will display his dance talents during the show -- or, as he puts it, "dancing-dancing: turning, leaping, tap dancing."

Creating the show also has taught Faugno about the nuts-and-bolts realities of producing a show. For instance, as a performer, Faugno knew he would need to arrange for rehearsal space and hire a band. But, also as a performer, he hadn't necessarily thought about such equally vital behind-the-scenes concerns as, say, arranging for publicity and hiring a stage manager.

"When I was thinking about doing the show, I wasn't thinking about those things," he says. "It's been a great lesson in producing as well as creating (a show)."

Fortunately, Faugno's other Las Vegas creative outlet will be well-represented at "Songs ..." For example, the seven-piece band is "mostly guys from 'Jersey Boys,' " Faugno says, while musical director Keith Thompson is the show's conductor. Even Faugno's girlfriend and "Jersey Boys" alum Joyce Chittick pitched in on choreography.

As of right now, "Songs My Idols Sang (And Danced)" is a one-time-only affair. But, says Faugno, "I'd love to do this again."

"I love live performing. I love to be in front of an audience," he says. "There's nothing like it."

Contact reporter John Przybys at jprzybys@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0280.