Las Vegas performer Jay Neal dies at 58 after battling cancer

As Jay Neal sang, danced and sometimes kicked his feet in the air as Fagin in the Rainbow Company’s production of “Oliver!” in late 2011, few in the audience were aware he had skipped a chemotherapy treatment to sustain his energy level.

A committed performer for most of his life, Neal went on to write songs and sing them in “Uncovering Nevada’s Past” early last year. It was the last of 19 original musicals about Nevada he performed in local schools.

Jeffrey C. “Jay” Neal died Sunday at home in Nevada after a 2½-year cancer battle. He was 58.

Neal worked for the city of Las Vegas, as the Rainbow Company Youth Theatre’s program specialist, from 1989 through December. He oversaw sound design and other technical aspects of productions.

As part of the city-funded theater company’s outreach program, artistic director Karen McKenney each year scripts a 50-minute program based on Nevada history that plays for the public and then visits elementary schools around the state.

Neal — credited in show programs as “J Neal” — was among the quintet of actors performing most of them. A prolific songwriter, he also wrote or co-wrote the songs for most of the musicals, including “Mark Twain’s Nevada,” “Snowshoes Across the Sierras” and “Characters of the Comstock.”

Outside the Rainbow Company, Neal and his wife, Cindy, performed as Jay and Harmony in local lounges and clubs.

Neal was born in Sumter, S.C., on Jan. 26, 1955. He was a 1973 graduate of Rancho High School.

Survivors include his wife; a daughter, Harmony Neal Mazzone; a son, Jeremiah C. Neal; his parents, Jeff and Dee Dee Neal; and sisters Heidi Neal and Jenny Neal Mitchell.

Services are set for noon Sunday at Palm Boulder Highway, 800 S. Boulder Highway, Henderson.

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