JEFF TRACHTA at the RIO

[GREGRIO]

JEFF TRACHTA (pronounced track-ta) was everything I thought he might be...
pretty lame.
His Show starts with a video ego clip, recounting every bit of his celebrity
(Bold and the Beautiful) past they could dig up...along with footage of
huge crowds of frantic women screaming his name...a level of success
every male performer might love (and I'm sure Jeff does)...he just wishes
they were guys. At least Johnny Mathis had the courage to come out and not worry about his career.

Jeff has a GREAT voice and loves to end many of his song selections in a
high falsetto.
_________________________________________________
*DEFINITION OF 'FALSETTO' (fol-seto)
A male voice in an upper register beyond its normal range.
_________________________________________________

His impressions are OK, nothing special. I think my favorites were of his
pet Chihuahua and George Burns (he does a great Chihuahua)
They drop a video screen behind him and show clips or stills of the people
or cartoons he's doing voices of (just in case you didn't get it...)
then it's off to some songs. For a guy who has such a good voice, why
he chose the sugar-sweet, tired old cliche tunes he did I'll never know and
don't want to. The exagerated/sincerity/emotion he puts into these songs
made me hope they might be passing out 'comp' insulin injections in
the 'Flirt Lounge' after the Show..........that's where the showroom is, up
in the 'Chippendales Theatre', along with 'The Flirt Lounge' on the mezzanine
level of Masquerade Village. Jeff fills the spot left open when Harrah's
closed the 3PM Ronn Lucus Show but PRINCE needs the old theatre all to
himself, so Harrah's bumped Jeff upstairs.

The showroom is on the small/cabrret style. Portable chairs, small round tables, and a cement floor, make it perfect for a rowdy bachelorette party
during the 'Chippendales' Show.
The stage looks good and Jeff's canned music and voice sound real good also.
The backdrop of the stage changes from multipal video pannels, to a solid
'blue-screen'. Jeff likes to start and end many songs against this screen
using his black silhouette. He likes to use a lot of finger pointing too...
..."this songs for YOU!" He has some mean double fingered 'flight attendant"
moves also, except he's not pointing to the EXITS. Jeff is very campy.

TV characters and cartoons make up most of his impressions, he sings a lot
and dances with himself, and then...........he changes into drag to become
an aging Showgirl, complete with 'fat suit', rhinestone headdress and
pinwheel spinning pasties...(DAME EDNA he aint...)

He chose a woman from the front row to dance with...she seemed thrilled.
He gives her one of his CD's which he announces will be on sale after the
Show along with him to autograph...Oh, by the way...EVERYONE gets their
picture taken on the way in which you can also purchase and get autographed after the Show.

Now comes the end of the Show. Danny Gans talks about his father,
the SCINTAS dad was a fireman, and Jeff's was in the National Guard.
After a terribly over used, patriotic, modlin little speach on the condition
of the world today...the stage backdrop glows of 'Old Glory' and the only
too familiar words of the overly played 'Lee Greenwood' song starts to
slowly come out of Jeff's mouth...NO NO NO! not "God Bless The USA" again!
The crowd seemed to have the same opinion as mine. Even towards the end
of the song, with the lyrics strongly suggesting we...."STAND UP", nobody did.
Oh well, there's always PRINCE.

Heres the deal...If you're curious and would like to see Jeff Trachta, get a
coupon from the Total Rewards counter. Take it to the BOXOFFICE next to
the front Registration desk and exchange it for a $7.00 ticket.
The Show is at 3PM and the line forms aprox.2:30 in front of the
Chippendale Theatre...first come/first serve.
Drinks are purchased in the 'Flirt Lounge'.