On Monday, They'll Be Right Here
Pittsburghlive.com
"Do it Rockapella."
Those three words will echo through the Carnegie Library of Homestead’s Music Hall Monday night when the dynamic vocal group brings its talents to the Munhall area for “A Rockapella Holiday Tour.”
The show is slated for 7:30 p.m. Tickets range from $30-$36 and are available by calling 412-368-5225 or online at carnegieconcerts.com.
Rockapella was formed in New York City in 1986 by Brown University alumni Sean Altman, Elliot Kerman, Steve Keyes and David Stix.
None of the original members are in the current lineup, and only high tenor Scott Leonard and vocal percussionist Jeff Thacher remain from its most famous configuration, the one that provided the musical theme for the popular 1990s PBS children’s geography game show “Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?”
Leonard, Rockapella’s lead singer and musical arranger, talked about Monday’s show during a rehearsal break in Florida earlier this week.
“We don’t get to Pittsburgh enough,” he said. “It’s always great when we do get there. I remember playing outdoors one time and then at a show indoors. It was when the Steelers won the Super Bowl. Perhaps Rockapella can bring Pittsburgh the impetus for another Super Bowl championship. Maybe that’s what it is. You need more Rockapella, and every time Rockapella comes the Steelers get the championship.”
Leonard said he not only loves performing in Pittsburgh, but he is a Steelers fan.
“I’ve always got time for Pittsburgh,” Leonard said. “Hines Ward is on my fantasy team. So I’m always monitoring his concussions. That’s a big team up there.”
Rockapella began its now-annual holiday tour in 2003, and it has grown into one of the more highly anticipated musical events this time of year.
“It’s always fresh because you do it one month out of the year,” Leonard said. “We’ve got two holiday records and a lot of holiday material. It’s very interactive and it’s not like a scripted thing where we have to do a certain thing.
“We’ve made an effort to recognize not just Christmas but Kwanzaa and Hanukkah as well. It’s very Christmas-oriented and focused, but we give a nod to the other holidays that are being celebrated.”
A music hall like the one in Munhall is perfect for Rockapella’s type of show.
“With Rockapella, it’s not a huge stadium act,” Leonard said. “It’s best enjoyed when you can see the expressions and experience the guys up close and personal. When we do a 2,000-seater, or even a 1,000-seater, that’s kind of ideal for us. There are no instruments. There’s not a lot of electronics. It’s just microphones and us. There’s really nothing between us and the audience, and it kind of lends itself to being an intimate, interactive experience.
“When you get too big of a place, you don’t quite get the full experience because the group is not only making music, it’s also entertaining.”
Carnegie Library of Homestead’s Music Hall seats 1,022 with great sight lines. Handicapped-accessible seating is available, and nearby on-street parking is free.
Leonard and Thacher will be joined on stage by George Baldi III and John K. Brown, who have been with the group the past eight years, and Steven Dorian, who became a member earlier this year.
Leonard said it takes an incredible amount of time and energy to arrange the music and get everyone on the same page while working individually.
“The thing about getting new guys is you’re able to hand-pick the perfect talent for the slot,” Leonard said. “You lose something with each guy who retires. You lose the personality and whatever he added to the recipe of the group. But as it goes, it gets more and more talented and more and more guys who are able to be great musicians, movers and performers.
“At this point the group is really an all-star lineup of talented guys who really are able to make the show more than it’s ever been.”
In the earlier years, Rockapella started playing weddings, bar mitzvahs and any gigs it could find before getting some major exposure after 1989.
“Rockapella was kind of a hard sell to record companies and radio back in the ’90s,” Leonard said. “We’ve always kind of had to find the back door into exposure, and in the early days it was TV for us with the show, and with a lot of jingles we used to do.”
Thacher joined Rockapella in 1993 and appeared on the fifth and final season of “Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?”
The show was produced by TV stations WGBH in Boston, and WQED in Pittsburgh.
Its theme song was written by Altman and David Yazbek, and was heralded as one of the most well-known themes in television history by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.
Regardless of what kind of Rockapella show it is, that song is all but required to be performed at all their events.
“We can’t get away from any concert without doing that song,” Leonard said. “There would probably be things thrown at us. Terrible Towels would be unleashed upon us.”
Aside from the show’s theme, Rockapella is well-known for Folgers coffee commercials in 1999. Leonard and Rockapella also hit it big in Japan while singing for Tokyo Disneyland.
Rockapella released a new album after Dorian joined earlier this year, titled “Bang.”
“We have a new guy, which gave us a new energy and new focus, and we have this new deal to make some records,” Leonard said. “We haven’t put out an all-original record since the mid-’90s, I think. We made a new record and it turned out really well. It’s got a new energy.”
More information about the show and group is available online at www.rockapella.com.
