Friday, Oct. 13, 2000 | 10:11 a.m.
Who: Tony Orlando.
Where: Riviera's Royale Pavilion.
When: 9 p.m. today and Saturday.
Cost: $43.45, $54.45.
Information: 794-9280.
Tony Orlando's anecdote-peppered conversational manner mirrors his career.
He's all over the place.
He's a TV star. No, a recording sensation. A rocker inspired by Leiber and Stoller. A lounge crooner who befriended Sinatra and Darin. A business whiz. A street-wise singer from New York.
A comic figure. A tragic figure.
In reality, Tony Orlando is all of that.
During a recent spirited, hourlong telephone interview from his home in Branson, Mo., where he's a frequent performer at the Osmond Family Theatre, Orlando alternately dropped the names of (among many others) the late Freddy Prinze, John Lennon (during a chance meeting at the Emmys in the early '70s), Colin Powell, Jerry Lewis, Don Rickles, Danny Gans, Clint Holmes, Sammy Davis Jr., Bill Cosby, Simon and Garfunkle, Dean Martin, Diana Ross, George Burns and Billy Bob Thornton.
Oh, and Thelma Hopkins and Joyce Vincent Wilson, known to millions of pop music and prime-time television fans as Dawn.
In one of his infrequent dalliances with Las Vegas, Orlando takes the stage tonight and Saturday at the Riviera's Royale Pavilion. More than two decades removed from his stratospheric multimedia recording and television success, Orlando says he has the same approach to his craft as he did during his chart-topping heyday.
"I want people to think, 'Holy mackerel, I got my money's worth tonight,' " said Orlando, who is part Greek and part Puerto Rican, and whose real name is Michael Cassavitas. "I'd like to see someone who isn't a Tony Orlando fan come in, looking to hate me, and leave singing to himself."
The sing-along would likely be sparked by rousing renditions from Orlando's impressive hits catalog, much of which can be still be heard anywhere from classic FM stations to department store elevators. Orlando is still happy to appease audiences with "Candida," "Knock Threee Times," "Tie a Yellow Ribbon," "Say Has Anybody Seen My Sweet Gypsy Rose?," "Steppin' Out (Gonna Boogie Tonight)," and "He Don't Love You, Like I Love You."
But Orlando also tosses in a wide range of cover tunes, such as "Hey Jude," "Stand by Me," and even a comic turn with the Led Zeppelin classic "Whole Lotta Love."
"I set that song up with Willie Nelson's 'Always on My Mind,' " Orlando said. "Then I go to Johnny Cash's 'Folsom Prison,' then a combined comedy musical piece with (bandmate) Kerry Cole on 'Whole Lotta Love.' "
And the audience reaction?
"They're surprised," Orlando said, laughing. "What really surprises them is 'Whole Lotta Love' is five years older than 'Tie a Yellow Ribbon.' 'Tie a Yellow Ribbon' is actually a more contemporary song."
Which reached No. 1 in 1973, following "Knock Three Times," which hit the top spot two years earlier. Though Orlando is most closely associated with Dawn, he was first a solo artist of modest success with such early-'60s tunes as "Halfway to Paradise," and "Bless You."
Turning point
In the late '60s Orlando turned to promotion, and in 1967 became manager of April-Blackwood Music, the publishing arm of Columbia Records. But three years later Bell Records producer Hank Medress asked Orlando to lend his voice to a demo recording of "Candida" featuring the voices of Hopkins and Vincent. The record reached No. 3, leading to the group's sizzling recording and television run that lasted most of the decade.
"We had a seven-year, unbelievable carpet ride," said Orlando, who says he never tires of the references to his former partnership. "We did seven years together and we were never off the charts in those seven years. We had a successful television show. It's been 28 years since 'Tie a Yellow Ribbon' and I'm still headlining in Las Vegas, Atlantic City, Reno and Lake Tahoe.
"Without Dawn there wouldn't be a now for me, and when you talk about me you have to talk about Dawn, just like if you talk to Paul Simon you talk about Art Garfunkel and when you talk to Diana Ross you talk about the Supremes."
However, in a tale recounted in characteristically harrowing fashion by VH1's "Behind the Music," as the narrator intoned, "it all fell apart." Orlando split with Dawn in 1977, saying he was turning to Jesus following the death of close friend Prinze by self-inflicted gunshot wound along with the death of Orlando's sister. He later admitted to cocaine addiction and manic depression and it was questionable whether his career would ever recover.
Orlando is willing to speak openly about the dark period in his life, particularly since VH1 has replayed his saga repeatedly for cable viewers.
"In my opinion, VH1 has served up a great lesson for a lot of young performers to see and pay attention to," Orlando said. "The storylines are '70s and '80s, the business was still in drugs, sex, rock and roll. If you're into these things you're a candidate for destruction. It puts up a warning signal for anyone who wants to get into this business."
Orlando says he is constantly reminded of the power of drug abuse.
"That was 20 years ago. I've been in this business for 40 years and that happened to me for one year, nine months actually," he said. "And that's a focus in my life. It's not selling 60 million records, having my own TV show, winning an American Music Award. It's that period, and it's a real message that can help some young entertainers out there."
Remembering Prinze
Orlando says he was driven to despair, in part, by the death of Prinze. One of the trail-blazing Latino comics of his time and the star of "Chico and the Man," Prinze died at age 22. Orlando says he thinks of him daily.
"I can say this: I don't think in my career I have ever met up with a true, true comedic genius like Freddy Prinze," Orlando said. "His rhythm, timing, ability to be self-deprecating, his honesty ... he would have been as big a comedic superstar as we've ever had and his is a great loss not only to me personally but to show business."
Orlando recalls playing off the physical similarities he shared with Prinze, who was once introduced as Orlando to open "Tony Orlando and Dawn," When Orlando was a guest star on "Chico and the Man," he entered the scene and stared at Prinze, who stared back, and the two men circled each other like a pair of prizefighters. Finally, both simultaneously uttered Prinze's signature line, "Looking goooood!"
"The audience went crazy. It was the longest laugh I ever heard," Prinze said. "It seemed like we had to wait forever for the laughs to die down so we could continue the scene."
On stage, in court
Since those heady days Orlando has settled into a fairly consistent regimen of performing in resort showrooms across the country, particularly in Branson. But it was there that he became immersed in a legal battle with former friend Wayne Newton, whom Orlando has known since 1961.
In a series of allegations that began two years ago, Newton has claimed Orlando did not live up to his financial obligations while the two were alternately performing at the Talk of the T.O.W.N. Theatre, which was being operated by Newton's White Eagle Inc. Orlando has countered that Newton wrongfully booted him from the theater (and also bugged his dressing room so Newton could overhear business discussions). Each side has filed multimillion-dollar lawsuits against the other, and the matter will be heard in federal court in Springfield, Mo., in March.
Both performers are under a court-imposed gag order and not allowed to discuss the case. However, Orlando, fighting to keep his comments in check, did offer the following:
"You've got to forgive me, but once we start talking about that subject, I'm going down a path I don't want to go down. I have not discussed this matter with anyone (in the media) and won't until this case is closed. It has to be done within the walls of the courtroom, but I'll say this: I've never sued anybody in my life in 40 years in show business and wouldn't unless I felt justified."
Keeping busy
It's doubtful the personal and professional relationship shared by the two will ever be repaired. But Orlando, at age 56 and a lifelong entertainer, says he'll always persevere and be a show-business figure. He recently finished a run in the Broadway hit musical "Smokey Joe's Cafe" and has a cameo roll in the upcoming film "Wakin' Up in Reno," starring Thornton.
"I get to sing 'Knock Three Times,' " Orlando said with a laugh. "Of all my songs, that one kind of gets on my nerves. But people like it so I'll keep singing it."
And singing and performing as long as there's an audience in front of him.
"My whole dream since I was a kid was to be in show business, right from when I saw 'Singing in the Rain' when I was 9 years old," Orlando said. "That was the ultimate goal for me. Whether it's pulling a curtain or being on stage, I'm happy. I'll hold the spotlight for Danny Gans, I'm serious, to be in this business.
"I know it sounds like bullstuff, but that's the truth."
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