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A chance walk by the Shubert Theater for 16-year-old Vincent Scarza from Point Breeze set the stage for his career.
Thinking the Center City venue was a movie house that rainy day in the mid-1950s, Scarza ventured inside. What he found was not a silver screen, but actor Phil Silvers and a cast performing a matinee of "Top Banana." Intrigued, the teen from 21st and McKean streets stayed for the whole show.
"It completely changed my life, turned my life around to see these actors on stage," he said. "I felt I wanted to be part of that. I knew I had to get out of high school and get into theater. That’s how it all started."
At 69, the Manhattan-based Scarza is an established television producer/director with some 35 years of experience under his belt including producer/director of Live AID. For that gig, Scarza was based out of Philadelphia, not London’s Wembley Stadium, the second location for the African famine relief concert organized by Sir Bob Geldof.
"Manhunters Fugitive Task Force," which premiered on A&E; 10 p.m. Tuesday and runs again tonight at 11, is the Upper East Side resident’s latest effort. In the first episode of the reality show about U.S. Marshals, "Third Time’s the Charm," Commander/Chief Inspector Lenny DePaul leads a team of eight real-life deputies, investigators and a parole officer. Supervisor Tommy Kilbride, pursues a familiar face — a twice-deported drug trafficker who Kilbride helped lock up. He learns the criminal is back in the States and the search is on with the clock ticking. As the show’s Web site states, "They are the best of the best hunting down the worst of the worst."
Friday, Scarza spoke via phone from his One World Productions Inc. office during final editing of the half-hour series, which the basic-cable network commissioned for 21 episodes.
Though set mostly in New York City, the show is filmed on location at U.S. Marshal Fugitive Task Force offices in Camden and Newark, N.J. Since this particular unit of law enforcement has jurisdiction nationwide, crews have followed them as far as Los Angeles and Florida. The unscripted series started filming this time last year with a crew of about 40, including editors and camera technicians.
"The way that we attacked this thing is like a movie," the producer said. "We had casting sessions. The marshals that appear in the show had to agree to be on filmed."
Though not his first offering for A&E;, the crime show is a departure for Scarza, whose resume is steeped in television music and variety shows. In 2002, he did a documentary on one of South Philly’s favorite sons, Bobby Rydell. Shot in the singer’s 11th Street neighborhood and at his high school Southeast Catholic �– now Neumann-Goretti �– the story was part of A&E;’s "Biography" series. In addition to Rydell, Scarza also produced "Biography" shows on Brenda Lee and Lesley Gore.
A fan of crime stories, Scarza got the idea to do a fugitive production 10 years ago after reading about New York City-based Fugitive Squad, which focused on pursuing criminals. The unit disbanded before he got a chance to fulfill his goal. Then he heard about the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force, formed after 9/11 and with some 20,000 arrests to date.
"The idea of doing a show of this nature came out of my brain, then I brought in other producers. Then we went to the A&E; network with it. As producers, we’re always looking to do something new or different. And this is something definitely new," he said.
Crime and police dramas are far from new and a dime a dozen with every network large and small offering at least one. So what sets "Manhunters" apart?
"The U.S. Marshal Service has never done a television show. This particular unit has never been on television," Scarza said.
Sure shows like "Cops" go after bad guys, but not hard-core criminals like drug traffickers or serial murderers, the producer said, adding, "That’s more low end."
Scarza attended McDaniel Elementary, 2100 Moore St., then Edwin H. Vare Middle School, 24th Street and Snyder Avenue, before not quite graduating from Southern, at Broad and Snyder. After the Shubert epiphany, Scarza decided to drop out of school his senior year and head to the Big Apple to get into show business. Still living at home here, he commuted and studied under director Jose Quintero, famous for his stagings of Eugene O’Neill’s works and being at the forefront of the Off-Broadway movement.
"I never set foot in a university," Scarza said.
Growing up in Point Breeze, Scarza would often walk to Point Breeze Avenue, a thriving business district back in the day. Catching movies at The Breeze and The Victory on the Avenue were a favorite pasttime along with another movie house, The President, near Vare and Snyder avenues.
Scarza never dreamed he’d one day go on to direct some of the screen idols he watched at The President: Barry Sullivan, Lloyd Nolan and Agnes Moorehead. Having worked with hundreds of stars, two of his favorites are Tony Bennett and Kenny Rogers.
"The shows I did with Tony are my favorites. The show I did with Kenny Rogers on NBC is a favorite of mine," he said.
After a couple of years in New York honing his craft, Scarza returned to Philadelphia and got a job as an assistant director at Channel 10 working on veteran newsman John Facenda’s newscast and later for WHYY TV-12 as a producer/director. Around the same time he took to directing operas and plays at Society Hill Playhouse, 507 S. Eighth St., he met singer/dancer wife Anne performing in "Street Scene." After marrying in ’63, the couple moved to Center City before relocating to Manhattan.
The Scarzas make annual trips back to Philadelphia, where the producer still has friends and family. For Christmas, the couple will visit a longtime friend in Girard Estate.
"I love the Italian Market, Ninth Street, Center City. We like Pat’s Steaks. We love the city. We enjoy coming back to Philadelphia," Scarza said.
