As NF benefit show grows, a ‘Jersey Boy’ makes it a fulltime pursuit

It started with entertainers doing what entertainers do.

“It was very Gershwin-esque: ‘Hey let’s put on a show in a barn with all my friends,’ ” Jeff Leibow says of organizing the first “NF Hope Concert” fundraiser in 2011.

“Coming in blind was probably the smartest thing I could have done,” he says now with a laugh.

Leibow has played Nick Massi in “Jersey Boys” since the hit musical came to town seven years ago. The story is about coping with the surrogate family that keeps you away from your real one. But the local cast has been so stable, it’s been easier for the actors to balance the two.

“After seven years, think of what we’ve all gone through together,” he says. “We’ve seen the birth of many, many children. We have seen people get married, lose family, gain family.”

One of those births was Leibow’s daughter Emma, who is now 5 and copes with neurofibromatosis, a rare genetic disorder that causes skin tumors. She was his motivation for phoning the Neurofibromatosis Network and offering to put on a benefit.

“If I had known ahead of time it was going to be this much work, I imagine it wouldn’t have taken too many looks at my daughter to convince me to do it regardless,” he says now. “But if I had known, I would have hesitated significantly more than I did.”

That first effort raised only $6,500, but put the concert on the map as a legitimate event. The second year’s total shot up to $22,000, tripling ticket sales and raising $11,000 in a silent auction. And last year saw ticket sales cross the 500 mark and push the total to $80,000.

Leibow credits both his “Jersey Boys” family and his real one.

“I’m in a show that’s lasted almost longer than any Broadway show here on the Strip. It’s really made a name for itself and I’ve been a part of it,” he says. “I think people know who I am as a result of that.”

But time has also let “people realize there’s a story behind you,” he says. “Maybe my daughter’s got a great face to be a poster child. Usually when somebody meets her, they don’t even look at my wife and I. They just look at her. … They’re immediately attracted and want to help.”

But next Sunday’s show (at 1 p.m. Oct. 19 at The Venetian) will be Leibow’s last as a “Jersey Boy.” He is leaving Nov. 23, having become a salaried producer for the Neurofibromatosis Network, with plans to stage similar concerts across the country.

“It’s not something that will grow into a massive thing tomorrow, but that is where it’s headed and that is what it’s going to be,” he says.

If you doubt him, look at what he’s done so far.

Leaving “Jersey Boys” and “a character that has become sort of a second identity to me” won’t be easy, he says. Still, “how often in your life do you get to explore two of your passions in one lifetime?”

Contact reporter Mike Weatherford at mweatherford@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0288.