Show & Tell: Meet Ryan Kelsey of ‘Vegas! The Show’

Q: You're from a real Las Vegas showbiz family.

A: That's right. My parents met in Texas and they were both performers. They wanted to be showboy and showgirl, so they moved out here, and they were both performers in shows when I was born.

Q: So did you always want to follow in your parents' footsteps?

A: I think that, for me, (it took) a long time. I don't know if it was anything drastic. I just didn't want to do what my parents did because they did it.

Q: So when you decided to go for it, how did it go?

A: My first two professional dance jobs, the very first one I was let go and the second one my contract was not renewed, which is different but didn't feel any different. So I was struggling with the idea that maybe this wasn't the field I was supposed to be in, (that) I followed it just because it was easy and my parents did it. So I threw it out to the universe and said, "Listen, I'm not happy, so an event or something needs to happen in the next few months or I'm going back to school."

Q: And?

A: A week later I got a cold call from a friend of mine who was putting together a show to go to Ireland. ... That was my sign.

Q: You've worked all over the world since then. Your parents must have been thrilled when you came back here.

A: Especially because my sister (Lora) is in "Jubilee!" It's so funny. My dad did "Jubilee!" in 1985, my mom did it in 1989 or 1990, and I did it in 2003 and now my sister is doing it, so now all four members of my nuclear family have done it.

Q: That must be great.

A: It's fun, especially when my parents come and I'll go see "Jubilee!" with my family, and my parents and my sister will come and see "Vegas! The Show" with my parents as well. ... Nights like that it really hits you, and I can see it in their faces when they watch the show. I can see the history and what it means to them.

Q: Out of all the shows you knew growing up, which is the one you'd like to dance in if you could?

A: "Enter the Night" in its prime was so good. ... As far as a pure ... dance show that really came out with everyone singing and dancing and looking incredible and at the time was on the forefront of technology for a show - when they did some laser numbers - that show, especially right in the '92-'93-'94 era, that was just the show.