Families value Scintas’ wholesome act at Rio

Friday, Dec. 6, 2002 | 9:17 a.m.

Who: The Scintas.

When: 7:30 p.m., Fridays through Wednesdays. Dark Thursday through Dec. 26.

Where: Scinta Showroom at The Rio.

Admission: $65.95.

Information: (702) 252-7777.

Rating: ****

One of the best family shows in town is "The Scintas" at The Rio, but if you want to see it before Christmas you need to go before Wednesday, when it will go dark for a couple of weeks.

Filling in for the Scintas will be madcap comic Rip Taylor, who will star in the Rio's "Christmas Spectacular" Dec. 13 through Dec. 25.

This being the family oriented season, siblings Joe, Frank and Chrissi Scinta will be off Wednesday through Dec. 26 to spend time with their own families.

Apparently the good-natured, light-hearted performers were good little boys and girls this year. Last month Santa gave them an early Christmas present -- a four-year extension of their one-year contract and a 700-seat theater, the Scinta Showroom.

No act is more deserving.

The Scintas have been filling showrooms with delighted audiences since they arrived at the Las Vegas Hilton two years ago, where they spent a year displaying their talents as comic imitators before moving to The Rio.

But for a couple of off-color bits, the production is wholesome, stressing family values, patriotism and prayer.

"Prayer is an unbelievable thing," Frank Scinta said near the end of one recent show. "More people today have turned back to their faith ... than ever before."

From the opening number (the Sister Sledge classic "We Are Family") to the closing, in which the Scintas praise God, America, veterans, policemen, firefighters and closeness of family, the production is a fast-paced, rousing display.

Producers say about 60 percent of the show has changed since it arrived at The Rio. One of the changes was to give Chrissi a larger share of the limelight.

The petite diva does a splended job as Barbra Streisand singing "Don't Rain on My Parade," and Patsy Cline singing "Crazy." But her tribute to Elvis, in which she is dressed as the King, is a highlight of the evening as she performs "Heartbreak Hotel," "Jailhouse Rock" and "I'm All Shook Up."

But Frank is the lead in the show. While he can play almost any musical instrument, he opened with the spoons -- playing them in Italian, French and Polish musical numbers.

After putting the spoons away, Frank took up the banjo, playing an energetic rendition of "12th Street Rag."

In addition to his instrumentation, Frank has a closet full of singing voices -- from Kermit the Frog doing a duet with Frank Sinatra, to Tom Jones performing "Delilah" while limping around the stage with a puppet in his pants.

He also does a signature George Burns, closing the routine with Burns' "I Wish I Was 18 Again" and pleading with young people: "The next time you see a little old man or little old lady, don't walk around them like they don't exist. Look them in the eye and say hello."

Lou Rawls, Louie Armstrong, Johnny Mathis and a host of other entertainers don't escape Frank's more humorous renditions.

Joe Scinta also demonstrates his own talent as an impressionist, performing the Rolling Stones' "Honky Tonk Women" and Neil Diamond's "I Am."

One sorely missed bit in the program was Joe's takeoff of Joe Cocker, a routine that will be on hiatus until Joe (Scinta, not Cocker) recovers from a hernia operation. Joe did the impression for so many years, pooching out his stomach to give himself a noticeable gut, that he actually gave himself a hernia that had to be treated.

The brothers, whose biting repartee is reminiscent of the Smothers Brothers, joined forces for a tribute to The Beatles. Among the classics they touched on were "Eight Days a Week," "Ticket to Ride," "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" and "Penny Lane."

They also performed a Martin and Lewis routine, with Joe as Jerry Lewis and Frank as Dean Martin.

Drummer and straight man Peter O'Donnell gets almost equal billing with the Scintas. He has been with the family of Sicilians for 17 years and is an integral part of the evening.

Rounding out the cast were backup musicians Tom Marth (bass and guitar); Marc Cahuvette (guitar and keyboard) and Chris Hoffman (keyboard).

Throughout the evening the Scintas revealed bits and pieces of their lives -- how they came together as a performing team, some family history, their musical influences, their family values and religious faith.

At times the themes of patriotism and love of family and God might seem a little over the top (10 big-screen TVs scattered around the room flash family pictures throughout the show), but the sincerity and enthusiasm of the Scintas overcomes what could otherwise be a maudlin, overly sentimental evening.