What’s ‘Shakin’? Eric Jordan Young’s fiery show at Sin City Theater

By John Katsilometes

Monday, Sept. 29, 2014 | 7:15 p.m.

Where Eric Jordan Young resides today is the home where all artistic streets meet.

“It’s Broadway meets pop star meets Vegas entertainer meets energetic soul,” Jordan says during a break in rehearsals at the Dance Factory on West Sahara Avenue. “What you get is a dude who is thrilled to be on the Strip fulfilling a dream I’ve had since I was a kid.”

The streetlight on that boulevard is illuminated by Young’s drive, talent and self-belief. It might seem a little strange to be meeting him in this way, at this time, as he spent nearly four years as one of the stars of “Vegas! The Show,” meeting the audience at the top of the show as Ernie the Janitor and closing the production of Strip tribute numbers with a tip of the cap. In between, he summoned Sammy Davis Jr., Louis Prima, even Sonny Bono, showing off his adept stage presence and skills.

Young promised at the time of his departure from “Vegas!” in June that he would develop his own one-man production and find a suitable room to grow the project on the Strip. He’s done that, with “Shakin,’ ” debuting 5:30 p.m. Saturday at Sin City Theater in Planet Hollywood. The subtitle is an apt description of this project: “Classic Vegas Remixed With a Twist.”

As audiences will note, this is a talent-packed show that is of showroom quality. The ticket prices are in line with that quality, with a core GA price of $44.95. When you set that price point, it’s a good idea to deliver the goods. Young, who has previously developed a one-man tribute to Davis, “Sammy & Me,” has no problem there.

A performer with “Chicago,” “Ragtime,” “Seussical the Musical” and “Starlight Express” (in its days at the Las Vegas Hilton) dotting his resume, Young is ready to roll, clearly. He’s planning for a 1970s-fashioned TV-variety show vibe, where he challenges the audience to embrace something it hasn’t seen enough of on the Strip, or anywhere, over the past 15 to 20 years as star performers have given way to production shows, club DJs and even bingo rooms.

“My ambition and desire is to connect with the audience in a modern way,” he says. “What is the modern triple-threat entertainer about? How does that fit, today, and bring it to the present? Justin Timberlake and Bruno Mars do it. My goal is to create a Sammy Davis Jr., if he was born in 1980, and show people what that might be like.”

Indeed, the show is a traditional, straightforward, polished headliner production that is the type of effort Davis himself would likely be turning out in today’s Las Vegas. Young will be generously sampling Davis’ most familiar numbers, including “Candy Man” and “Mr. Bojangles.” “I Gotcha” by Joe Tex is in the mix, as is Petula Clark’s “Downtown,” and “That Old Black Magic,” covered by Johnny Mercer (the song’s co-writer), Sinatra and Davis, among others.

Young, backed by a backing band as capable and dexterous as is he, churns out “Las Vegas Turnaround” by Hall & Oates. Dancers Sarah Short (also in Veronic's "Voices” at Bally’s) and Claudia Mitria (of “Pin Up” at the Strat) join Young in some pretty advanced dance numbers.

Why are they advanced? The show’s co-director and choreographer is Gerry McIntyre, of “Chicago” and “Once On This Island.” The creative team is bolstered further by music arranger Tommy James (who has worked in the studio with Duke Ellington Orchestra and Lionel Hampton), and co-director and consultant Rick Pessagno, with 40 years of professional experience in all facets of entertainment.

The lighting and scenic director is Justin Cheatham, who has been hired by such TV shows as “Boardwalk Empire” and “Nurse Jackie,” and who also has worked on the Latin Grammy Awards telecast.

It’s a show that seems constructed, onstage and in concept, for a big room. But Sin City Theater is not that. The venue seats about 300, though it does have a flexible design that can work for comedy, low-scale music presentations or such big-fly shows as … well, “Shakin.’ ”

It’s even hosted the full-scale Prince tribute act Purple Reign, for a time, and the spot-on Nirvana tribute act Smells Like Nirvana. The concern at Sin City Theater has always been its inconvenient location, on the mezzanine level several cartwheels from the entrance of the Planet Hollywood Showroom, which itself isn’t drawing much of an influx of human activity these days.

Nonetheless, such shows as “Shakin’ ” can bring high-caliber artistry and energy to that location.

“That’s the hard part, reaching people,” Young says. “But I see what’s happened with ‘Glee’ and ‘Smash’ and all of these musicals being made into movies, and I think there is a desire to see live, quality performances. They key is getting people to trust that it is a quality performance.”

Young plans to use the theater’s cozy confines to his advantage.

“The thing about the room is it feels very personal, it’s very exposed, and I cannot hide,” Young says. “It’s raw. It’s not glossed over. It’s just a super-exposed performance, and I think the talent will speak for itself.”

It also will sing and dance, tell the occasional joke and bust its hump to remind a paying audience what a Broadway-caliber performance on the Strip feels like.

Follow John Katsilometes on Twitter at Twitter.com/JohnnyKats. Also, follow “Kats With the Dish” at Twitter.com/KatsWiththeDish.