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Soaps.com Interviews Former B&B star Jeff Trachta! Thursday, September 11 2008

We’ve already reported that Jeff Trachta will be performing at the Spa Resort Casino in Palm Springs, but we thought we’d take things a step further and get a first hand account of what fans can expect from the man himself. I recently spoke with Jeff who gave me a peek into his upcoming show, as well as reflected on his time as Thorne Forrester, whom he played on The Bold and the Beautiful from 1989-1996.

His one-man show, Jeff Trachta Live! will feature the actor’s musical and comedic talents, as well as his many spot on impersonations of classic TV personalities that he's been honing his whole life. “The first impression I ever learned to do was my baby brother, John,” he recalled. “I had this ability and I did every cartoon voice that was on television, everybody from TV Land. “All in the Family”, “Green Acres”, “Gilligan's Island”, all of those classic TV characters.”

His talent to mimic others bled over into his life on The Bold and the Beautiful, where he perfected impersonations of the late Darlene Conley (Sally) and her character’s former sidekick, Saul. “The whole time I worked in soap operas I was basically told, ‘Go put together your Vegas show and stop doing it in the makeup room,’” he laughed.

Jeff took that advice and cultivated his one-man show that he performed at the Rio in Las Vegas for several years. After turning down a contract to continue on in Sin City, the entertainer moved to Palm Springs, went to the Spa Resort Casino and showed them the promo of his Vegas show. They were obviously impressed, as they invited Jeff to be Palm Spring’s first ever permanent headliner.

Opening September 26, Jeff will perform every Friday, Saturday and Sunday, entertaining audiences with musical numbers, comedy routines, character skits, and impressions of George Burns, Joan Rivers and even the pop band *N SYNC. Using a video screen as a backdrop, Jeff will appear as every member of the boy band, to great comedic effect. For a glimpse of Jeff’s best *N SYNC moves, as well as other bits you can expect from his show, check out his clip on YouTube.

Even though his future is tied up performing weekends at the Spa Resort Casino, Jeff still fondly recalls his past in daytime. “The Bold and the Beautiful has been the gift that keeps on giving to my life,” he said. With fans coming from all over the world to see his shows, Jeff is still approached by people who remember him as Thorne. “When people have been to your weddings, they feel like they know you,” he noted, referring to his character’s many onscreen nuptials to Macy.

Speaking of Macy, Jeff let me know that he and her portrayer, Bobbie Eakes, are still good friends, as she and her husband even had a cabin down the road from Jeff for a time. Aside from Ms. Eakes, Jeff shared, “I was very close with Darlene, who you know passed away, and I talk to a lot of [behind the scenes] people who worked on the show and Ronn Moss (Ridge), my brother, will call me from time to time and we’ll check in with each other. They’re lovely people and when I was doing my show up in Vegas, some different people would surprise me.”

One of his fondest memories of working on B&B was when, “Bobbie and I would sing on the show, and in real life we were doing these huge concerts in Europe and The Bold and the Beautiful filmed an episode of our [characters’ lives], but it was actually happening to me and Bobbie. We had this ten thousand-seat stadium and it was sold out two nights in a row. It was my birthday actually, and we had a big party and we were filming it for The Bold and the Beautiful as well. That was an incredible time. That was really exciting.”

While he looks back fondly at his time on the show, Jeff couldn’t be happier with his present circumstances, telling me, “This is the most fun I’ve had in my entire career. Bar none. It’s a total entertainment experience for me and I make contact with the audience. You know when you just find your niche and you’re like, ‘This is what I’m supposed to do?’ I knew it when I was in Vegas.”

Soaps.com would like to congratulate Jeff on his one-man show and wish him a successful run in Palm Springs. For more information on Jeff Trachta Live! go to the Spa Resort Casino website, and if any of you happen to see his performance, please Contact Us and give us your review!

Lori Wilson
Writer/Journalist
Soaps.com