Imagine the many music entertainers who got their start in show business by being at the right place at the right time. Now, imagine a young man coming home from Spring Break during his first year of college, all tanned and ready to get back to it. With a stop at the former Front Row Theater in Highland Heights after Spring Break, Russell Joseph Anthony Mascia found himself in the actual front row of the theater and entertained by the classic singing trio, The Lettermen.

As a part of The Lettermen routine during their performances, a microphone is passed around the front row with guests being asked to ‘show off’ their singing prowess. When the mic landed in Mascia’s hands, the journey began. So intrigued by this young college man just back from Florida, the trio found it necessary to bring him up on stage and hear more from a voice that moved so many in just seconds. 

Upon a return trip to Cleveland the following year, and so impressed by the sound they heard the year before, The Lettermen once again asked Mascia to join them on stage, not for two songs, but instead he performed FIVE songs with the trio. Raised on music his entire life, Mascia and his two brothers used to spend nights impersonating The Letterman. So, it was no surprise that when he was invited on stage, he pretty much stole the show.

Born into an Italian family no doubt brings out one’s passion for music. Russell Mascia found that very passion at an early age. Raised by Italian parents – a father from Little Italy and a mother from the Gordon Square area – Mascia was surrounded by the voices of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Perry Como and more. But a true to life ‘like Father, like Son’ moment came to be when Mascia’s Father, Peter, was at the former Moe’s Main Street Lounge when one Tony Bennett came in to perform. 

Moe’s was a classic jazz lounge from yesteryear located at E. 79th and Euclid Avenue that brought in the likes of Bennett, Mel Torme’, The Four Freshmen, Louis Prima, Keely Smith, Steve Lawrence and more. Bennett even debuted his classic hit “Because of You” at Moe’s. As Russ did with The Lettermen, so did the senior Mascia with Mr. Bennett on the Moe’s stage. Great memories and stories the Mascia boys share today.

With his college career now out of the picture, Mascia set his sights on the music industry and was intrigued to see where his harmonic voice would take him. After engaging the singing talent services of Dick Moe, Mascia answered an ad in a local newspaper where a saxophone player was looking for a talented singer to join him and they began putting the pieces together for a band that later would be known as Paradise. Paradise was a huge success and played the Cleveland music scene for over two decades. 

When Ohio liquor laws changed in the mid-90’s, bar owners were forced to make changes in admission charges, age requirements and scheduled playing time. Like every other band, Paradise found themselves as a casualty of these latest changes in the liquor laws, and thus found it difficult to find solid music venues in which to perform. 

Around the mid 90’s, when Paradise was no more, the band Chance came calling for Mascia to lend his vocals to an already established band, one of which was a fan favorite of the late radio personality, Michael Trivisonno. Trivisonno was so enamored by the Chance band and Mascia’s Vegas-style of performing, they became THE band for his annual Coats for Kids Fundraiser. Although he satisfied a brief craving by performing live with Chance, there was still something missing in Mascia’s personal musical journey.

Even after several years of performing in restaurants, lounges, and smaller venues, the missing live band element didn’t lend to building the musical career he longed for since that moment on stage at the Front Row Theater. 

Prior to December 2015, an idea came to Mascia that would put him back on track to focus on a career that resembled HIS ‘American Songbook’ and highlight the voices that filled his home as a child: Sinatra, Dean, Darin, Perry, and Tony. On December 12 of that year, Mascia’s celebration of Frank Sinatra’s 100th Birthday sold out two shows at the intimate Alex Theater at The 9, but forever changed his outlook on where he wanted to succeed. 

While the recent pandemic was a difficult challenge for all of us, the silver lining for Mascia was that it allowed him to focus on building his current project – Vegas After Dark. Although Vegas After Dark was already performing pre-pandemic in such venues as Tangier’s, the MGM Casino and the Alex Theater, there was so much to develop to make this show a first-class experience of Las Vegas like no one has heard before.   

Mascia, along with the sultry and sexy sound of Tricia Ramos, the musical voice and antics of Bob Burdecki, and the Skatch Anderssen Orchestra, make this a truly unforgettable evening of music memories. From Sinatra to Bennett to Prima to Darin, and a mix of Barbara and Peggy, Mascia’s Vegas After Dark is the musical journey that brings his life into yours for one special night.

Friday, Feb. 17, 2023, 8:00 pm. 

Goodyear Theater