I was in Buffalo, New York last Christmas when I learned NBC-TV was desperately trying to contact me to find out how to reach Larry Rivellese in The Villages.
Six months earlier, I had done a story on Larry for Villages-News.com detailing how he combined his love for opera and softball.
I first saw Larry Rivellese sing at the monthly “Showcase of Talent,” hosted by Diana and Joe Arlt. I never heard of the guy, but then he came on stage and sang “Nessun Dorma” and blew me – and the audience – away. I was stunned by his powerful voice and stage presence. There are many talented singers in The Villages but this guy was something special.
Diana Arlt described Larry this way:
“When Larry gets up to sing, we are all warned that he may shatter the chandeliers and eyeglasses of the audience. The audience just loves the ‘big singer’ as he has been called. I call him the singing plumber who has a tremendous set of pipes. He has tremendous talent.”
Soon after seeing him sing, I was playing a softball game. I saw a big guy playing catcher and he looked familiar. It was Larry.
“Larry,” I said, “you’re the opera singer. I never knew you could sing.”
Then he told me how he worked as plumber in Long Island; rooted for the Yankees and had studied opera.
“Larry,” I told him, “This is a great story. I’m going to write it.”
The feature appeared in Villages-News.com with a video of Larry singing that night at the Talent Showcase. Here is that story, which appeared in June, 2016:
http://villages-news.com/villager-big-voice-also-swings-mean-bat/
There was a big reaction to the story in The Villages and I thought that was it.
What I didn’t know was NBC-TV was starting a new show. Steve Harvey hosts “Little Big Shots,” a program featuring talented children. Now, Harvey — along with producer Ellen DeGeneres – started a program called “Little Big Shots: Forever Young” featuring older adults.
I kept getting emails and calls from NBC. But I was visiting family in Buffalo and they couldn’t reach me. Finally, I made telephone contact with one of the show’s staff. She raved about Larry’s singing and was fascinated by his work as a plumber and his skill as a softball player. “We need you to get ahold of Larry,” the staffer told me. “We want him to be on the show.”
NBC wanted Larry, but there was still one problem: I didn’t know Larry’s telephone number.
So I called Diana Arlt. She gave me Larry’s number. And on a snowy December night in Buffalo, I called Larry Rivellese in The Villages.
“Larry,” I told him, “You won’t believe this, but NBC-TV is doing a new show with Steve Harvey and they want you to audition. They think it’s cool that you were a plumber and play softball. But, most of all, they love your singing.”
Larry was thrilled.
“I just want to thank-you and Villages-News.com,” he said. He contacted NBC. After four months, NBC flew him out to California in April to appear on the show. NBC also sent a film crew to The Villages to film Larry here.
Journalism can be a strange and cruel business. Sometimes, you wonder if all the work and writing is worth it, and during moments of doubt, you wonder if anybody out there reads your stuff.
But when I saw Larry Rivellese sing “Nessun Dorma” on national television Wednesday, it made it all worthwhile.
And I couldn’t help but think back to that night at the Talent Showcase, when I first saw Larry sing that song.
He has come a long way since then – or as Steve Harvey said, Larry Rivellese is now truly, “in the big leagues.”
Tony Violanti writes about entertainment for Villages-News.com
