It’s a night of great music led by Scalissi

The star of the show is Joe Scalissi, a world-class performer who has been doing Dean Martin for decades. His talent and knowledge of the songs and life of Dean Martin is remarkable. This is no academic lecture where Scalissi tells you about Martin’s life. It’s a night of great music led by Scalissi with just a keyboard player/musical director, stand-up bass player and drummer.

It was opening night and they mentioned that they had one day of rehearsal on Monday. Scalissi was a true pro and his performance is worth the price of admission alone. His jokes with the audience, and the way he masterfully works a crowd only comes from years of experience. The show is packed with many of the Christmas standards you’d expect. So, you will hear lovely renditions of “Let it Snow,” “Marshmallow World,” and “I’ll be Home for Christmas.” Yet it wouldn’t be a true Dean Martin show without some of his hits like “Volare” and “Ain’t that a Kick in the Head.”

Scalissi looks natural with the two items you expect to see in Dean Martins hands when he is performing: a glass of J&B and a cigarette. He drinks throughout the show while jokes about booze and women are a running gag. This show is a great reminder of what a showman Dean Martin was and how different show business was. I was seated at a table of three generations of women from Fort Worth and they all loved the whole evening. The atmosphere of the Reid Cabaret Theatre suited itself to such an intimate show. Yet Scalissi was right when he said he preferred a bigger stage. He has the chops and Dean Martin played far larger rooms. Somehow none of that mattered and the audience and performers had a blast.

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