Friday, November 29, 2002
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Scintas act charms and disarms the audience

Plenty of anachronisms used in family's revamped show that continues drawing crowds at the Rio

The Scintas, a family group, perform a variety of impersonations during their show at the Rio.

The Scintas are a throwback likely to induce a flashback.

But as the family act settles into a multiyear contract in the Rio showroom that now carries their name, the flashbacks are less to the freewheeling days of old Las Vegas and more to a TV variety show of the '60s.

You even get to watch a guy play the spoons and banjo.

The important distinction is that the Buffalo, N.Y.-born act, which includes two brothers and their younger sister, use their blood ties and 25 years onstage to pull together what was just a hodgepodge on those old shows.

You have Frank Scinta's impressions of George Burns, Ray Charles, Frank Sinatra and Kermit the Frog (the latter two together). The Scintas (pronounced Shin-tahs) came to Las Vegas two years ago, a time when impressionist Danny Gans opened the door for new faces as long as they did celebrity impressions.

There's also the sibling banter of the Smothers Brothers school. Instead of "Mom always liked you best," it's the running gag of eldest member Joe being jealous of younger siblings Frank and Chrissi outdoing him.

There is a patriotic "God Bless the USA" finale and, in a direct lift from Wayne Newton, a moment when the Scintas ask veterans to stand up for a round of applause.

And there are comedic variety numbers gently spoofing the Rolling Stones and Beatles. These new segments, added as the Scintas dig in for four more years at the Rio, are perhaps the most bizarre.

Here are baby boomers in their 40s and 50s, treating classic rock with a type of humor associated with their parents' generation. They do the Beatles first in the moptop wigs, skinny ties and black suits, then in the psychedelic "Sgt. Pepper's" outfits.

You can easily imagine Bob Hope circa 1965, walking onstage in either costume, pausing for the initial reaction to the get-up before engaging in cue card banter with a miniskirted Joey Heatherton.

It's a strange anachronism compared to Paul McCartney using the classic Beatles songs to reconnect to his old fans with a genuine warmth and resonance in the post-Sept. 11 climate.

But oddly enough, the Scintas seem to thrive on anachronism. Remember the spoons and banjo.

Frank tells the audience when he introduces Chrissi's cover of "Crazy" that she used to cover the reigning Top 40 hits, but "for some reason those songs never held an audience's heart like the classics."

"Heart" is a word that comes up more than once in the show and perhaps what best explains the underlying spirit that makes it all flow together. That, and a keen understanding of audience psychology.

The group first established itself here in the Las Vegas Hilton's smaller NiteClub, where it was more of a ring-a-ding showband. They still preserve some of that in-house banter, which results in some choice moments for drummer Peter O'Donnell.

But when they moved to the 720-seat Rio venue in April 2001, the hotel teamed them with veteran producer Blair Farrington to polish and build the show.

Farrington added three utility musicians and a handsomely lighted set, complete with video screens. The new numbers make it more visual still, replacing some of the banter with sight gags such as Chrissi donning an Elvis jumpsuit to sing snippets of "All Shook Up," "Jailhouse Rock" and a serious take on "Can't Help Falling in Love."

This works better than it would most places because at this point, you've been disarmed by the Scintas, seen family photos of them as youngsters and, on most nights, will even be introduced to their mother.

This creates a sense of honesty that's so strong with the audience, the Scintas are able to be completely open about what they do.

Near the end, Chrissi dedicates a full-blown version of Whitney Houston's histrionic "I Will Always Love You" to the family's late father. The audience is on its feet. But that's not the surprise.

The surprise is that Joe then confronts the crowd for its reaction: "That was a Vegas trick!" he proclaims. He then uses an old junior high locker room ditty to demonstrate how a bombastic arrangement and crescendo (another page from the Wayne Newton book) will cue a Pavlovian response for the audience to stand up and cheer.

Talk about having your cake and eating it too. The Scintas won't even have to leave theirs out in the rain, like Newton does, to be at the Rio for as long as they want to be.