‘Jersey Boys’ star is performer by night, Bishop Gorman teacher by day

When Joe Barbara isn't starring as Gyp DeCarlo and others in the hit musical "Jersey Boys" at Paris Las Vegas, he's at Bishop Gorman High School, helping students produce their closed-circuit TV show.

The high school show, affectionately known as "BGTV" among the students, ends the week at Gorman, 5959 S. Hualapai Way, and lasts about 10 minutes. Much like a real news broadcast, some parts of it are live, while others are pre-recorded packages.

Barbara moved to Las Vegas in fall 2009 with his wife, Nicole. He had just finished a stint on daytime television in "Another World" as well as appearing nights on Broadway in "Grease" and was looking forward to opening "Jersey Boys" on the Strip. Nicole, who had been a TV anchor in Youngstown, Ohio, was interviewing for a post at the school.

"I was sitting out in the car, waiting," Barbara said. "It was, like, 112 degrees, boiling hot. We only had the one car, and so I had the two kids with me, and they were (getting antsy) when Nicole comes back out and says, 'They want to talk to you. ... I think this job is better-suited for you.' "

He went in, was interviewed and ended up agreeing to start a club on broadcasting, a stint that began in January 2010. It saw about 15 students from all grades. By that fall, it was no longer a club but an elective class. He's been teaching it ever since.

In it, Barbara covers all facets of putting on a show, including scripts, teleprompters, sound board, lighting and photo techniques, such as how to frame a shot and the use of panning.

"The class is Broadcast Media, but it encompasses everything from filmmaking to live television production," he said. "It's a multi-camera TV show, every Friday morning, once a week. The whole school stops and turns on the televisions in their classrooms, and we count down — five, four, three, two, one — and fade up to camera two and roll it. The students do everything, the directing, everything. It's hands off (for me), and I'm just standing back and watching them take over."

He knows what he's talking about. Barbara holds a Bachelor of Science degree in television and film production from Syracuse University. After leaving college, he worked as a production assistant at "Entertainment Tonight," but acting was his main passion. He appeared on "Another World" as Joseph Carlino from 1995-1999, and he took the role of Paolo Caselli on "All My Children" in 2000. He also appeared on Broadway in the revival of the musical "Grease" as Danny Zuko, and Off-Broadway in "Tony n' Tina's Wedding."

At Bishop Gorman, a new segment recently was added to the show, Global Gael. It looks at news from around the world. Barbara teaches the youths how best to present it.

"This is news," he said. "You're telling a story with pictures and not talking it to death."

Putting on the show requires students to react quickly and know how to ad-lib if the script roll breaks or if a live shot doesn't go as planned.

"It's a lot of pressure on the kids. We had a teleprompter go down, and the kids were out there, flying without a net. ... If you take a science class or a math class, and you botch a test question, only you and the teacher know about it," Barbara said. "But if you mess up here, not only does it impact the other 20 students (on the team), but the entire school sees it."

Barbara tried to get students thinking beyond the school's events. For Sept. 11, for example, BGTV started its broadcast at a Summerlin fire station as a way to pay homage to the victims and heroes of 9/11.

Some students take the elective for a semester and don't return, realizing it's not for them. Others, about half, Barbara estimated, go on to take the advanced class. He estimated that half of the students plan to pursue careers in broadcast news, filmmaking, television or related fields.

Former student Caitlan Bertram, currently a sophomore at the University of San Diego, attended Bishop Gorman specifically to take Barbara's class.

"It was a great experience. … I went from not knowing how to do anything — write, film or shoot or edit — to something I'm looking forward to pursuing (as a career) because of that class."

Barbara, who lives near Henderson, teaches both the elective and advanced class. Nicole has come in to talk to the students about being a TV news anchor.

Newbies quickly learn they are there to learn and work.

"They come to the class, like, 'Hey, I want to be on TV; this'll be fun,' but they don't realize all that goes into it," he said. "Especially when they come into the control room and they see the director at work and see the director cueing shots and video and being two steps ahead of what's happening live but also listening to what's happening live and reacting to that — that's when they are a little bit stunned and go, 'Wow, I didn't realize you did all that.' "

— To reach Summerlin Area View reporter Jan Hogan, email her at jhogan@viewnews.com or call 702-387-2949.