Tommy Mara loves singing in The Villages but finding his way around the place drives him crazy.
“I always get lost in The Villages,” says the effervescent, larger-than-life, doo-wop singer extraordinaire. “I know why they call them roundabouts. Every time I get on those things, I keep going around and around and around. Did you ever try and find the Savannah Center at night? It’s almost impossible.”
So it goes from Tommy Marasciullo, a kid who grew up singing Italian songs for his grandmother in Brooklyn. As a teenager, he sang in bands that covered Led Zeppelin and Grand Funk Railroad songs before finally discovering his true love of doo-wop music while working at his father’s pizza parlor in Queens. Next door was a place called Club 59 that featured doo wop. “They had a group called Bubba and the Bubbles,” Mara said. “They let me sing with them. I was like one of the Bubbles.”
Eventually, he changed his name to Tommy Mara, moved to Florida and became best friends with the late doo-wop star Johnny Maestro. Today, Mara leads the Crests, Maestro’s former group and one of the most honored acts in doo-wop history.
Put it all together and you have the Tommy Mara story.
“My life is music,” Mara, 59, says, before quickly adding with his usual off-the-wall sense of humor: “no drinking, no drugs – just sex. And pretty soon I’ll be too old for that.”
Mara has a way of making people laugh.
“Tommy’s a funny guy but when it comes to music, he’s all business,” said Gerry “Rocky” Seader, leader of Rocky and the Rollers. Mara often performs with Rocky’s band in The Villages and will be here Dec. 10 at 3:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. in Katie Belle’s with the singing group, The Vogues.
In late November, Mara closed out “Rocky’s Doo-Wop Party” with one of the most stirring performances in recent memory.
On an all-star bill with other major national acts such as Dave Somerville of the Diamonds, the Cleftones, the Mystics and Rock and Roll Hall of Famers, the Flamingos – it was Mara who brought the house down with his version of “You’ll Never Walk Alone.”
It wasn’t supposed to be the closing number. At these major doo-wop gigs, all the acts usually gather on stage to sing “Goodnight Sweetheart Goodnight” for the finale. But Mara’s song was so powerful, “there was no way to follow it,” said one of the performers at the event. Villager Dan Woods summed up the feelings of most in the audience when he said: “The way Tommy Mara sang that song really got to me. I had tears in my eyes. It was beautiful.”
Al Brady, who acts as master of ceremonies for major, national doo-wop shows in The Villages and around the country, called Mara’s performance, “the best finale” Brady has ever witnessed. He added the only one comparable was when Johnny Maestro, who died in 2010, sang the song himself.
“That song means so much to me because Johnny used to sing it,” Mara said in an emotional, soft voice. Maestro had said he wanted Mara to replace him with the Crests. To see Mara perform with Maestro go to YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16pKVgZajxc
“I will never be able to sing like Johnny,” Mara said. “But I will do whatever I can to keep his music alive.”
Mara has done just that for nearly three decades. He and his wife, Victoria, both come from Brooklyn and have been married 37 years. Mara has two children. A son, Fabian Marasciullo, is a Grammy-Award winning recording engineer and mixer who has worked with such contemporary performers as, Michael Jackson, Jennifer Lopez, Britney Spears and hip hop artist Lil’ Wayne.
“My son’s got five Grammys,” Mara said proudly. The son also got Tommy to do a small speaking part on one of Lil’ Wayne’s rap numbers. “I played an Italian tough guy talking to Lil’ Wayne,” Mara said. Despite the family connection, Mara admits, “I wasn’t crazy about the music. Rap’s not for me.”
Mara’s daughter, Jennifer, is business manager and company manager of the Show Palace Dinner Theater in Hudson, Fl. Tommy Mara, who lives in nearby Spring Hill, happens to own the Show Palace. “My daughter does a great job there,” he said.
The kids may be talented but for the older people in Central Florida and around the country, Mara is a star on the doo-wop circuit. “Because of his dynamic vocals, he became known as ‘the Pavarotti of doo wop,’” wrote music journalist Maryanne Christiano-Mistretta.
Despite his fame, Mara is lacking only one thing: a hit record.
“I started late and never really had a chance to make a hit record when doo-wop was really hot,” he said, adding that he calls himself, “the famous-unfamous guy.”
And he’s not just a singer.
“There are singers and there are entertainers; I entertain people,” Mara said. “I want people to laugh and have a good time.”
“His comedic sense really adds showmanship, but is really an extension of his personality,” Al Brady said. “Tommy’s just a lovable and funny guy.”
It’s no joke when Mara starts singing and that powerhouse voice, which at times combines opera and street corner harmony, creates a special, magical feeling.
“I don’t do this for money,” said Mara, who is known in the music business for his charity work. “It’s about singing and looking out in the audience and seeing the people’s faces and how they respond.
“If I can bring back that one special moment that a person remembers but hasn’t thought of in years, I feel I’ve done my job. I’ve had people tell me that I’ve touched their hearts and brought back memories of loved ones they’ve lost. Nothing means more to me than that.”
