Rick Faugno raises the bar on our expectations of entertainment off the Strip.

We no longer have to settle for mediocrity or cheese.

Faugno portrays Frankie Valli in “The Jersey Boys” at the Palazzo.

The musical biography of Valli and the legendary Four Seasons doesn’t give Faugno the chance to spread his wings – or in this case kick up his heels.

To see the real multi-talented performer in action, you have to attend one of his performances at the South Point. It’s well worth the effort. He sings and taps his way through a 90-minute show that thrills fans.

About once a month he puts on his “Songs My Idols Sang (And Danced!).” The next one will be Sunday, April 25. The 400-seat showroom is usually sold out, so make your reservations early.

Faugno (a true “Jersey” boy from New Jersey), has been performing professionally since the age of 12, when he was cast in Tommy Tune’s Tony-winning “Will Rogers Follies.” He played the young Will Rogers.

His Broadway credits also include “Conversations With My Father,” “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang,” “Wonderful Town” and “Fosse.”

At South Point Faugno, pays homage to the singers and dancers who had the most influence on him growing up – including Frank Sinatra, Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly.

He is accompanied by a seven-piece band featuring “Jersey Boys” conductor Keith Thompson on piano, who did all of the arrangements for the show. The band also includes Don Meoli, drums; Tyler Williams, bass; Drew Zingg, guitar; Dan Falcone, trumpet; Kevin Stout, trombone; and Matt Taylor, sax and flute.

The show-stopper of the afternoon performance, in my mind, was his interpretation of Sammy Davis Jrs’, “Mr. Bojangles.”

The song was written in 1968 by country singer Jerry Jeff Walker, who said it was a true story about an encounter he had with a white homeless man he met in a jail cell in New Orleans. The man, whose nickname was “Mr. Bojangles,” entertained cellmates with a tap dance.

Countless performers have covered the song, but it is most closely associated with Sammy Davis.

Faugno did it perhaps better than anyone but Sammy himself.

by Jerry Fink

(thejerryfink.com)