Tom Strini
This Week at the MSO

Sha Na Na Pops in to open 2011

By - Dec 30th, 2010 04:00 am

Sha Na Na. Jocko’s third from the right.

Nobody in Sha Na Na ever lived the 1950s Greaser Lifestyle, a la the Fonz, that the band came to represent on stage and screen. For one thing, they were a generation too young — the band didn’t form until 1969. For another, they were all too well-educated and middle-class.

Sha Na Na grew out of a Columbia University glee club. On a lark, they worked in a little doo-wop and added some choreography. The British Invasion had killed doo-wop, so Sha Na Na was a nostalgia act from the start. Which is fine with John “Jocko” Marcellino (BA English, Columbia, MFA, New York University, theater).

“At least four generations are enjoying this music,” Marcellino said Wednesday, from his La Jolla, Calif., home.

Those generations would be the oldsters who loved the music in its own time; the somewhat younger oldsters who were Sha Na Na fans in the 1970s; fans of Grease in its various incarnations; and kids who grew up listening to their parents’ recordings of Grease, the 1978 musical that seems to tour to Milwaukee about every 30 days. In the film version, Sha Na Na performed as Johnny Casino and the Gamblers, who figured in the story and provided a lot of the music.

Many players have come and gone through the decades, but founding drummer Marcellino and vocalist Donny York have been stalwart throughout. Pianist “Screamin'” Scott Simon joined in 1970, just after the group played Woodstock. That’s right — Woodstock. Not only that, Sha Na Na got big play in the hit documentary about Woodstock.

“That was our eighth job,” Marcellino said. “We were lucky enough to be in the most famous concert ever. And then we were in Grease, the largest-grossing musical. We had a TV show that ran for four years and was syndicated world-wide for eight years. We’ve had such great fortune.”

Marcellino said that the TV show, with its four years of weekly obligations, changed the group and expanded its repertoire beyond doo-wop and into other styles, including Pop, R&B and Soul.

“It was just campy fun until TV,” he said. “The we got serious. We became students of the music and concentrated on getting it right. James Brown was on our show. We started doing Rockabilly, Jerry Lee Lewis and Buddy Holly. We did Phil Spector wall-of-sound. We did Elvis. The ’50s came in a lot of flavors. It was a great period for songwriting.”

Marcellino said that the upcoming Pops program will provide tastes of lots of them, plus the obligatory numbers from Grease.

Sha Na Na will make its MSO debut this weekend, but the band has 10 years of pops experience. It began when the Roanoke, Va., orchestra brought them in for a private concert. Peter Nero, who runs the Pops in Philadelphia, picked up on them next, and the momentum built from there. In Milwaukee, they’ll work with principal Pops conductor Marvin Hamlisch. They got to know him in gigs with the Seattle and Pittsburgh symphonies.

“We have a lot of fun with Marvin,” Marcellino said. “We put a leather jacket on him, we have some shtick. You never know what Marvin’s going to do. It’s fun.”

He said that he found symphony orchestras to be a pretty good fit with ’50s rock styles.

“Many of the originals had full orchestrations,” he said. “Remember, they didn’t have synthesizers back then. Some of the orchestra players have been relieved — they thought it would be earplug time — to find that we don’t really play that loud. We sing four-part harmony. We don’t want to drown that out.”

Pops are now a significant part of the life of Sha Na Na in the 21st century. The group plays about 50 concerts a year, down from about 200 a year in its heyday. That strikes Marcellino as about right. Financially, he doesn’t need to live on a tour bus anymore.

“The travel is a pain, but the payoff is great,” he said. “We’re doing great business everywhere and we leave ’em dancing in the aisles. We don’t think of this as playing oldies. You wouldn’t say you’re doing oldies by Beethoven or Brahms. That’s not how it goes. We’re just doing great songs, celebrating music now, tonight.”

Through the years, Marcellino has cultivated a career as an actor, and he’s built a long list of credits. His thinks of his part in Sha Na Na as a role.

“It’s a Method thing,” he said. “I put on my leather jacket, grease back my hair, and my accent gets more Brooklyn.”

The MSO’s Fabulous 50s Pops Celebration is set for 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 31-Jan. 2, at Marcus Center Uihlein Hall, 929 N. Water St. Tickets range from $25 to $95. Call the MSO ticket line, 414-291-7605, visit the MSO website, or call the Marcus Center box office, 414-273-7206. Marvin Hamlisch will conduct. Sha Na Na’s current roster: Jocko Marcellino, Screamin’ Scott Simon, Donny York, Reggie Battise, Jim “Billy” Waldbilling, Paul Kimbarow, Gene Jaramillo, and “Downtown” Michael Brown.

Categories: Classical

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