A decade ago, when Jeff Trachta was replaced as Thorne on THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL, the actor turned to music and stand-up, which landed him a variety of gigs, from game show host and cruise ship entertainer to the Broadway production of Grease. This month, Trachta opened his new one-man show, Jeff Trachta Live! at Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. Billed as "a one-man show with a cast of thousands," his second Vegas act incorporates singing, dancing, impersonations and comedy. Check out a video preview of the show here. Trachta took a few minutes before a show to give Weekly a peek.
Soap Opera Weekly: Congratulations on the new show! How have things been going?
Jeff Trachta: I'm having an incredible time. It's been a dream fulfilled with me. I'm a character actor trapped in a leading man's body, so the whole time I was on the soaps I was doing one form or another of my Vegas show in the makeup room. Then I would go out and play the boring leading man. Which was fine, because it bought me real estate and gave me the ability to do what I want to do. I've been extraordinarily lucky.
Weekly: Give us a little preview of what fans can expect if they go to the show.
Trachta: My opening number is Ain't No Mountain High Enough. I have a 117-member choir that sings behind me, and they are all me. Barry Cooper — who did makeup on THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL — I hired him to make me into all these different people. It is so cool on the screen behind me. At one point we do this tribute to boy bands, and I become all of the guys of N'Sync and we do synchronized dancing. I hired N'Sync's choreographer to teach me all of the moves.
(See a clip of Trachta's voice impersonations and dance moves here.)
Weekly: What's the response been so far?
Trachta: We had a sold-out house yesterday for my first day at my new theatre. I was pretty excited! Everything is really cool.
Weekly: It must be gratifying to put so much work into this, going these extra steps, no pun intended, and see it all pay off.
Trachta: Absolutely. It's really been a thrill for me. Bobbie Eakes (ex-Macy, B&B — she's over on ALL MY CHILDREN now (as Krystal) — I got an e-mail from her and one from Catherine Hickland (Lindsay, ONE LIFE TO LIVE). Catherine is flying out to see the show. And Bobbie’s bringing her whole family. Every day that I go out there people from my past show up. I'm seeing old friends all the time.
Weekly: You have an amazing gift in all the voice work you can do, especially the impersonations of all the classic TV stars. What inspired you to do those voices?
Trachta: My father was a TV salesman at Sears & Roebuck for 25 years, so we had a TV in every room. We didn't have a lot of money, but we had the biggest TV on the block. TV, for us, was everything, including the babysitter. My mother was addicted to DAYS OF OUR LIVES. Every day at 2 she watched, THE DOCTORS, DAYS, ANOTHER WORLD. It's no wonder that I ended up doing what I do.
Weekly: She must have been ecstatic when her son landed on a soap opera.
Trachta: My mother suffered from depression. She used to sit there and cry while she would watch the soaps and do her ironing. She would say, "Julie is a witch!" and, "I love that Laura Horton." She was in love with Susan Flannery as Laura Horton on DAYS. How ironic that Susan would turn out to be my on-screen mother on B&B.
Weekly: Did she get to meet Susan while you were on B&B?
Trachta: Oh, yeah. I flew her out to the studio and she kept calling her "Laura." I kept explaining to her that she is Stephanie now. But she told Susan, "You’ll always be Laura to me."
Jeff Trachta Live! plays the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino daily at 3 p.m. (dark Fridays). Tickets for this family-friendly afternoon are $19.95 and $24.95 (V.I.P.) plus taxes and service charges. Call (702) 777-7776.
