Tampa Theatre Is Where You Will Find Quintet

TAMPA - Where in the world is Rockapella?

Central Florida, mostly.

This region is home to four of the five current members of the a cappella vocal group, perhaps best known for its appearances on the PBS children's game show "Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?"

Mouth percussionist Jeff Thacher is the only non-Floridian. George Baldi lives in Kissimmee, while John K. Brown calls Davenport home.

Kevin Wright is a Winter Haven native who moved back after several years in New York. Scott Leonard is originally from Indiana but moved to Tampa to attend the University of Tampa on a baseball scholarship.

He lived and worked in Japan and New York before moving to Hyde Park.

That might seem odd for a group that formed at Brown University back in 1986. But Rockapella's lineup has been shifting since the beginning.

In fact, Leonard, who joined in 1991, is now the group's senior member.

"I'm the granddad," he says.

"Rockapella started very casually, just guys who loved singing," Leonard explains. "Everybody had day jobs until 'Carmen Sandiego.'"

Wright has been with the group a little more than a decade, but his history with Leonard goes back much further.

"Scott and I used to work together at Disney World," Wright says. "We did a show called 'Breakfast With Melvin the Moose.' No, I didn't play a moose. I was an actual person!"

The two moved to New York separately but wound up being neighbors on the Upper West Side, unknowingly, until Wright spotted Leonard on the street near his building one day.

Wright appeared on Broadway and in touring companies of hit shows but decided he wanted a change. The decision coincided with an opportunity to audition for Rockapella.

Now he's touring the world, but the holidays always find the group back in Tampa. They will play Tampa Theatre on Saturday.

"It's cool to be able to travel the world, but we keep the Tampa show for our final date," Wright says. "We have a lot of family and friends, and it's really become the highlight of the year."

The singers want to make sure theirs isn't just another holiday concert.

"The Rockapella signature is an original approach to music," Leonard says. "We don't just do 'Rudolph.' We're doing a really original spin on it. We want to make it live, give it a reason to be there along with a lot of original music."

"When people go to a concert these days, everything is so overproduced," Wright says. "It's such a spectacle, and there are so many things used to help the artists, like pitch-shifters.

"It's kind of nice for people to come to a show and just see five guys on stage," Wright says. "What you hear is what you get."

ON STAGE

Rockapella

WHEN: 8 p.m. Saturday

WHERE: Tampa Theatre, 711 N. Franklin St.; (813) 274-8981

HOW MUCH: $21 to $30