Here’s the latest from the crossroads of faith, media & culture: 03/22/24

Tony Orlando ties a bow on his concert career. The last one is tonight at the Mohegan Sun in Connecticut. However, just because the 79-year-old music icon (who’s been touring since he was 16) is drawing the curtain on his traveling concerts, that doesn’t mean he’s retiring. As he said in part one of our conversation posted here Wednesday, he plans on exercising his creativity in other other venues – perhaps perhaps films, Broadway or even a novel.

As our conversation chronicling his amazing career picks up, he finds huge success on television.

JWK: So, it’s the early seventies and CBS comes to you with the idea for the Tony Orlando and Dawn variety hour.

Tony Orlando: Yep, CBS did. Fred Silverman, the president of CBS, came up with that idea. We had a wonderful run on CBS…It was amazing to be able to work every Wednesday night for 36-million people. The three of us will be together again at Mohegan Sun just as three friends who had a magic carpet ride – Tony Orlando and Dawn which is Telma Hopkins, Joyce Vincent Wilson and myself.

JWK: So, you three have remained friends over the years.

TO: Oh, God, yes!

JWK: I understand that you were a big fan of Jackie Gleason and Jerry Lewis and they were both on your show. What was that like?

TO: Well, you know, you’re working with giants! You’re working with two of the greatest showmen that show business – television and motion pictures – ever had! Growing up, I idolized them. Then, in my adult life, I was able to work with them and then, even better yet, become friends with them. I co-hosted the (Muscular Dystrophy Association) telethon with Jerry Lewis for 33 years. That was a great feeling of accomplishment because he was my boyhood idol.

JWK: When they let him go from that, you also decided to leave.

TO: Yeah. If Jerry wasn’t there, I couldn’t be there. Jerry built it and they actually fired him. They let him go. I thought that was wrong for a guy who dedicated his life (to the cause) because they wanted to go to younger audiences or whatever. I thought it was an insult to his work. Without Jerry there would be no DNA science because the actual hard work to find a cure was through the work of (the Muscular Dystrophy Association).  (Treatment based on DNA research  was developed) because of the funding of MDA. Jerry Lewis was the leader of that…We continued to work for Muscular Dystrophy without the telethon. I continue to this day. You know, I have two cousins of mine – who are more like young brothers of mine – both with muscular dystrophy. They’ve been that way since the day they were born and afterward. God bless them. So, it’s in my life. People in my life have been dealing with this disease so I continue to work on their behalf.

(From Tony Orlando’s Facebook page)

JWK: Getting back to your variety show for a moment, that format was such strong genre of television in the seventies. The variety show seems to have gone away. Do you think it’s time to bring it back?

TO: I think the variety show has changed clothes. I don’t think it’s ever left. I think the variety show today is The Masked Singer. It’s The Voice. It’s American Idol. Those are the variety shows of today. Variety shows that we were used to – back in the seventies – were more based on burlesque kind of comedy sketches etc. It was a different form of comedy. Saturday Night Live is still doing it the way they did it back then. So, variety has just put on a different suit but it’s still there.

JWK: You had some difficult times after your show ended. Your friend Freddie Prinze committed suicide.

TO: Well, if you lost a friend wouldn’t you go through some times?

JWK: Of course.

TO: So, let’s just move on. You know what that would be like. Just think about it. What do you think it would be like if one of your best friends died? Wouldn’t it be a tough time for you too? Sure, it was a tough time for me, yeah.

JWK: On The 700 Club, I believe you said that you were raised Catholic but, after going through a tough time, you became a born-again Christian in 1978.

TO: I don’t find any difference between Catholicism and (that). All of us believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. That’s what we are. That’s our religion. It’s all the same thing. Do you distinguish a difference between Catholics and born-again Christians?

JWK: I don’t think there’s any difference either. I agree with you there. Everybody’s the same.

TO: (laughs) Okay.

JWK: You’re still doing a WABC Radio music program, right?

TO: I’ll continue to do that as long as they’ll have me. I’m having a ball with that. I have a great time. When I was a kid it was an iconic station. It still is. I used to listen to Bruce Morrow. Most of the performers I have on my show who I interview, everyone one of them says “Oh, my God! I listened to WABC as a kid growing up! That was my station!” etc. And here I am on a station that hosts some of the great disc jockeys like Bruce Morrow and like Alan Freed. I have the opportunity to do a show that’s a little bit more autobiographical. I should say a documentary-type show where we have a theme every week and play the music. It’s just been very rewarding. That show streams to 173 countries. It’s heard in all 50 states and is very highly rated in our time slot in New York City. So, it’s  been a great experience.

JWK: I know there must be several but, as you look back over your career, are there a couple of highlights that you care to share?

TO: Of course, the first time we ever stepped on stage to do a CBS network show. We were the first multiracial group to ever have a prime-time variety show on a major network. That was a pretty amazing accomplishment for us. We were awed by that – and proud of it, by the way. Still are to this day. So, that I would have to say was an amazing moment for the three of us.

For me, working for eight presidents. As a kid from Chelsea in New York City with only an eighth-grade education, that was pretty astounding to be able to perform for them. I have a red, white and blue state of mind. It’s not one party. Whoever is president, I root for and I hope and pray for. So, to work for eight of them – actually nine of them – has been an amazing feeling of accomplishment. It doesn’t get better than that. I look back on it and I think how fortunate. Only in this country can a kid with an eighth-grade education find himself having dinner with presidents. It’s crazy – and a wonderful feeling.

And, you know, Yellow Ribbon – because it’s been so upfront in welcoming home our hostages from Iran in 1980. Then, of course, throughout Desert Storm, Iraq and Afghanistan, it stood for homecoming for our veterans. It’s been an unbelievable ride for me.

The one thing I will miss is the people. Looking out at those faces when you’re on stage, you see happiness and laughter. You look at their faces of joy. It’s all because maybe you’re bringing that to them. Maybe they forget their problems. Whatever it is, they’ve been so supportive all these years. That’s the one bittersweet part of this moment…I’ve been doing this since I’m 16-years-old. There’s a lot of it that I’m going to miss, especially those people out there.

JWK: Is there anything else you’d like to say as we wrap up?

TO: Thank you very much for taking the time to interview me. I really appreciate it.

JWK: Well, I appreciate you taking the time with me.

TO: Well, may God bless you and keep you happy. I wish for you what I wish for myself – and I really mean that, John. We both are in a business that can give us great enjoyment. We should never forget that. We’ve been blessed, you and I.

JWK: I agree with that. Thank you, very much. It was really nice talking with you. I really do appreciate it.

TO: Thank you, my friend.

John W. Kennedy is a writer, producer and media development consultant specializing in television and movie projects that uphold positive timeless values, including trust in God.