Jeff Tracta knows what it feels like to be in the political spotlight. In fact, he enjoys it.
The celebrity impressionist became an instant sensation back in 2017 with his pinpoint impersonation of then-President Donald Trump on the hit NBC television show, “America’s Got Talent.” Tracta’s audition included a gyrating homage to the hip song, “24K Magic,” by Bruno Mars which shocked audience members and even won over discriminating AGT judge Simon Cowell who called the comedic routine, “something … we are all going to remember.”
Indeed, we did – and that’s not fake news.
Tracta will combine his patriotic schtick with a vast array of iconic voices in a Vegas-style show Friday at the Spokane Tribe Casino in Airway Heights.
“I do a hundred impressions … everyone from Andrea Bocelli to Eminem to Elton John to Justin Timberlake, Usher, Lady Gaga,” said Tracta, who visited with me by phone while preparing for a series of cruise ship performances in Alaska. “It’s really a cornucopia of pop culture and then I do all these different comedians and people who we know from television.”
A multifaceted entertainer, Tracta honed his vocal skills at an early age and was heavily influenced by popular 1970s impersonator, Rich Little.
“I just was fascinated with the fact that he could become different people,” he said. “I would do every voice on television that I thought was interesting. My parents were like, ‘What is up with this kid?’”
An acclaimed singer and Broadway actor, Tracta is known to millions of television viewers for his past portrayal of Thorne Forrester on the hit CBS soap opera, “The Bold and the Beautiful.” His 1994 debut album, “Duets,” with show co-star Bobbie Eakes, was the first of three albums that achieved triple platinum status for him worldwide.
Despite that early fame, Tracta longed for something more.
“I did the soap opera for eight years and then doing Broadway and tours and stuff, I never got to really use what I knew I had inside of me, so I knew I had to create something on my own,” he said.
A huge fan of late comedian and impressionist, Danny Gans, he recalled watching him perform at the Wynn Las Vegas hotel.
“I saw his show and I just had this moment where I was like, ‘I think I can do what he does,’” said Tracta.
His future career path was further paved by the success of ventriloquist, Terry Fator.
“I had just been watching a TV special. It was about making your dreams come true. I’d never met him, but he was talking about the fact that he had a $20 million deal at the Mirage hotel. I wrote in my journal, ‘I’m totally inspired by Terry Fator and his $20 million dollar deal. I don’t need a lot, I just need enough,’ ” said Tracta, who later began working with Fator’s manager himself.
That singing Trump number came along years later.
The routine hatched after Tracta’s manager overheard him impersonating then-President Trump at an event in Atlantic City. The rest is history. Flanked by flags and acrobatic Secret Service agents, Tracta’s Trump delivered a sparkling rendition of Walk the Moon’s, “Shut Up and Dance,” during the 2017 AGT quarterfinals, but was later eliminated during a fair voting process. The legacy of that colorful character lives on at his shows which are attended by crowds in numbers too big to rig.
“I was just on the phone with the lieutenant governor of Louisiana and he’s bringing me down to do a big singing Trump show there for everybody in Louisiana,” said Tracta, who has perfected the gig down to a fine-tuned dime. Humongous red tie. Expressive hand gestures. Orange makeup. Even that famous comb-over. “That’s a big, long process,” he said.
For Tracta, walking that fine line between offending people and entertaining them is a nonpartisan trek.
“When I was a kid, Rich Little did a dead-on Richard Nixon and I thought he was genius, but the thing is, he was never mean. He was just funny,” said Tracta. “People ask me, ‘Am I a Republican or am I a Democrat?’ and my line is, I am an entertainer,” he said.
That effort is not defined by any single impression.
“It’s so much more than just me alone onstage doing voices. It’s a multimedia experience and audiences really, really have fun,” said Tracta, who has appeared at hundreds of corporate events and casinos in Las Vegas over the years.
“I will walk off the stage after doing a performance and the feeling that I get, knowing that I’ve made people laugh, have fun,” he said. “It’s the neatest thing to do what I love to do and actually get paid to do it. It’s wonderful.”
