Stirred by ‘Jersey Boys,’ he wants to do it his way

By Jerry Fink

Thursday, Dec. 18, 2008 | 2 a.m.

Pop icon Paul Anka conjures up all sorts of memories.

He’s the teen idol who crooned “Diana,” “Lonely Boy” and “Puppy Love” in the ’50s, and the ’70s heartthrob who sang “(You’re) Having My Baby” and “Times of Your Life.” He’s also the composer of “The Tonight Show” theme and Tom Jones’ big hit “She’s a Lady,” and the lyricist who put the words “My Way” into Frank Sinatra’s mouth.

Anka returns to Las Vegas to perform Friday through Sunday at the Orleans.

It had been a year since we reminisced about the 50th anniversary of “Diana.” But a recent phone conversation from his home in Lake Sherwood, Calif., was deja vu of a different sort as Anka talked about making a musical about his life.

Six years ago Frankie Valli mentioned during an interview that he had just sold the rights to the Four Seasons’ story to be turned into a musical — a story that eventually became the Tony-winning “Jersey Boys” and is now playing at the Palazzo.

Now, here was Anka, 67, talking about his “Jersey Boys” aspirations.

What are you busy with these days?

What’s happened is I’m writing (an autobiography). I’m halfway done. I’m writing it with an editor over at Rolling Stone. From that, it’s kind of gotten out there about the book. I think with the success of “Jersey Boys” and Billy Joel (his musical “Movin’ Out”), I think there’s an open window for the indigenous type of things of pop music. I heard from two entities, very viable and important. I met with them recently. We went over a lot of material. We put something together and we’re going to meet out here again soon and pursue it and see where we go from there.

What is the concept?

They want to do exactly what was done with “Jersey Boys.”

That should be a lock for a hit, given your track record.

Well, first you need to get the book, and you’ve got to get it right. It’s all there to do it, but to guarantee a hit — I would never go out on that ledge. I feel confident there is enough dynamics in all the earlier days of Las Vegas. There’s a wealth of back drama to it. It’s not going to be “... and then I wrote.” I’m going to talk about things that have drama and have conflict. It was not always easy for me. That’s what makes it dramatically good for them. The songs and the music are there. There’s 50 years of music. They can never get it all in, and they know that. There’s meat to it, and it’s the right time. I’ve kind of stayed away from it until now. For many years I’ve had overtures from Vegas to come in, in kind of a Broadway show, with maybe me in it, but I’ve turned that down.

Would you be in it?

They need a 16 year old, so that’s out. And they need a 27, 28 or 29 year old. I don’t know how far they would take it, maybe up to the middle of the ’70s. We have to sit down and see what the statement is and where the meat is. I don’t think it’s going to cover the full 50 years. The unique position, the producers say, is so there is so much material and I’ve been doing it so long — but how do we do all of that? They wanted to do a miniseries for television, which I’ve turned down.

Would you bring it to Vegas?

I think yes if we have the success of “Jersey Boys.” But a lot of them don’t make it. Don’t think all of them have done well going from Broadway to Vegas. But I think because of my associations there and the content of the story it would have a real good shot there. But I don’t know yet if it would fit the mold.

Your relationship with Vegas goes back to the beginning of your career. When did you first perform here?

I started there in ’58 with Sophie Tucker at the Sahara, and it went from there.

You once owned a nightclub here, a disco-restaurant?

Yes, Jubilation. It opened in 1977. We put that up on property on Koval Lane, behind the MGM (now Bally’s). It was very successful. It was very stylish, with three restaurants. I believe it was ahead of its time, frankly. We had it for quite a few years. My dad ran it until he had a heart attack, and then we sold it. It became Sharks after we sold it, and there’s an apartment complex there now. I spent some time at the club, but I’m not a partying guy. In the beginning I would go there every week or two.

What about Broadway? Have you performed there?

I did “What Makes Sammy Run?” Then I did my own show on Broadway right after that. I like Broadway, culturally. But to go on Broadway personally, I’ve stayed away from it. It’s a very dangerous game. You can’t make a lot of money unless you run a long time.

Every time people have come to me to do it I didn’t want to take a risk, to take a year out of my life. I always had things going for me. I’ve been traveling globally for the last 50 years — and I still do. But to give that up and then go in and get killed on Broadway by two or three critics? The only way I like Broadway for myself is to go in with this kind of project, go in with everything on the table and taking the shot the right way. You’ve only got the one shot.

And I don’t slow down enough to focus on performing on Broadway. I’m always doing CDs, and producing, like producing Michael Buble with David Foster in ’03. I’ve got casino deals all over the country. I’m going to Asia. I just got back from Mexico. With my concert “Rock Swings,” I’m doing all these big festivals. Today 50 percent of my audiences are under 40 years old. It’s a whole new kick.