Sister Scinta

Friday, Jan. 14, 2005 | 4:51 a.m.

WEEKEND EDITION

January 15 - 16, 2005

What: "The Scintas."

When: 7:30 p.m. Fridays through Wednesdays. Dark Thursdays.

Where: Scinta Showroom at the Rio.

Tickets: $59.95.

Information: 777-7777.

Chrissi Scinta could not escape destiny.

Not that she ever wanted to. It was a pretty good fate, as fates go -- a member of a close-knit troupe of family performers who have climbed to the top of the Las Vegas entertainment ladder, headlining at the Rio the past four years.

Chrissi, 42, is the youngest of four siblings that include older brothers Joe, 57, Frankie, 47, and Tony, 52.

Drummer Pete O'Donnell has become a figurative member of the family.

Tony is a retired homicide detective from their native Buffalo, N.Y. He recently moved to Vegas to join his brothers, sister and mother, Mary.

The family idolized their father, Joe, a firefighter who died 10 years ago. He and Mary were married 49 years.

Brother Joe blazed the trail for Frankie and Chrissi, leaving home to join a rock band that performed across the country in the '60s.

Frankie was a child prodigy on the banjo, appearing on the "Ted Mack Amateur Hour" at the age of 10, and then on the "Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethon" and "The Merv Griffin Show."

Chrissi began singing when she was about 5, joining Frankie in gigs at nursing homes in and around Buffalo. At the beginning of the family business of entertainment in the late '70s, Joe and Frankie performed a lounge act at Paul McGuire's, a Buffalo night spot.

From there they got a gig at the Buffalo Playboy Club, which led to their performing for the Playboy circuit in the early '80s. Eventually they began an engagement at the Tangier Club in Akron, Ohio, which lasted 17 years before they made the permanent leap to Las Vegas in 2000.

Chrissi, who was just recovering from an ailment, recently discussed her life in the limelight during a telephone interview with the Las Vegas Sun.

Las Vegas Sun: How are you?

Chrissi Scinta: I'm getting over walking pneumonia. I was sick for a month. Singing over that was a challenge. Thank God for my training. If not for my vocal training I would not be doing very good now. I just have a little sore throat.

Sun: How were the holidays?

CS: Hectic. It has always been that way and I anticipate it will always be that way. We all get together and cook and sing and laugh. The biggest thing we do is laugh. That's pretty good, considering three of us work together.

Sun: Being together so much, is there any sibling rivalry?

CS: No, there is no sibling rivalry. Once in a while there are little dilemmas, but once the curtain goes up the dilemma fades and it's over with.

Sun: Do you remember your first performance onstage?

CS: I don't remember the first time, except that I do remember there was no stage fright. I get a little more nervous now. They used to call me the mini-Ethel Merman -- I was a belter. It was the one time I got to raise my voice.

Sun: What sparked your interest in performing?

CS: My brother Joe. I admired him so much. When I was little he was always in these great show bands -- rock bands. He would travel and write to us and when he came home to visit it was always a great moment for me.

Sun: How did your talent develop?

CS: Basically, when I was a little girl Frankie always played the piano around the house and we sang a lot of Al Jolson songs. He and I grew up watching Larry Parks as Al Jolson in the movies.

Sun: Were you a musical family?

CS: Music is in our blood. I don't remember a lull.

Sun: How did Tony escape entertainment?

CS: It was in God's master plan. Tony is the mediator of the family. He is a lot like Dad. We are all like Dad in certain ways, we are blessed in that way. Each of us picked up certain traits. Tony is more of the soft-spoken one.

Sun: Your brothers play a variety of instruments. Do you play anything?

CS: I took piano lessons for five years. The first piece I ever played was the theme from "Godfather." Then when Frankie came home from seeing the movie at the theater he played the song like he plays it today -- effortlessly.

I decided then to give up piano lessons.

Sun: How did you get into the business?

CS: Frankie and I met a lady, Mary Stock, who believed in us. She set up variety and talent shows in nursing homes for us. It seems like every weekend we were doing benefits. Frankie would play the banjo. I would sing songs by Eddie Cantor and Al Jolson.

Sun: Did you ever consider doing anything besides performing?

CS: There has never been any doubt about what I wanted to do. It's all I ever did. I have never known working a normal job. I have always been with the family.

When I graduated from high school I briefly contemplated nursing school, but that fell by the wayside after the first road trip. Everything fell into place.

Sun: Where was your first trip?

CS: To the St. Louis Playboy Club. Mom was with me. That gig snowballed. Then we performed at the New Jersey Playboy Club and the other Playboy clubs.

CS: What did you do before you started on the Playboy circuit?

CS: It started at McGuire's, this club in Buffalo. McGuire's needed a piano player and wanted to hire Frankie. Frankie wouldn't do it without Joe and me. But Joe's rock band had just broken up and he was going to move to Florida to sell smoke alarms.

Frankie and Joe did a weekend at the club and before we knew it they were there weekend after weekend. There were lines out the door. They came to hear Frank doing Sinatra and Billy Joel. He would banter with hecklers.

Sun: What was your role?

CS: I would come in for one set, Mom and Dad were with me, and belt out a couple of songs and then leave early and go home.

Sun: From McGuire's you went onto the Playboy clubs. Then what?

CS: Our first show out of the Playboy circuit was the Tangier club in Akron, Ohio. Charo canceled and they needed a fill-in.

Sun: Have you ever thought about striking out on your own?

CS: I have never thought about a solo career. It has been such a blessing up to this point. There has never been any reason to even think about venturing into something else. We're really having a good time, and we look out for each other.

Sun: Why did you come to Las Vegas in 2000?

CS: My husband, John Milkie, who manages us, had the vision and urged us to move out here. Everything he said is coming to pass. It's amazing.

Sun: Buffalo is a lot different from Vegas. Are you happy here?

CS: I never really thought I would be happy making Vegas home, but like fishermen go to the ocean, entertainers come to Vegas.

Sun: Did you ever think you would make it so big, so quickly?

CS: It's quite humbling. We never would have dreamed it would happen. We just shake our heads with humility.

Sun: What next?

CS: We are hoping to get on TV. We really have a love for the camera. We want to do something like the "Carol Burnett Show" or Sonny and Cher. People are searching today for something on television that's not smutty or garbage.

Sun: Your family seems quite religious.

CS: Our faith plays a huge role in our decisions. We put our faith in the Lord's hands. It is comforting to know we have that faith.

We pray before every show. We've been doing it for the past 23 years. The crew joins us if they like. It may seem a bit regimented, but it's our desire. If we don't pray before a show, the show doesn't feel right.

Sun: Do you have children?

CS: I have a daughter, Deanna, 15.

Sun: She has grown up around the business, sort of as you did.

CS: I sang three days before I had her. I literally was back onstage a week after she was born. And when she was an infant she was in a walker in the dressing room.

Sun: Is she interested in show business?

CS: She sings amazingly well. I'm in awe of her, but right now she's in a play, "Little Shop of Horrors," at Palo Verde High School. She's more interested in education than anything, but she has the typical line, "I want to be a star someday."

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