by Rita Charleston

He admits he always wanted to be a performer, any kind of performer. So at the age of 13 or 14 he began the long journey by joining some of his teenage buddies and singing Doo-Wop on the street corners of Asbury Park, N.J., his hometown.

“That was in the early '60s,” says 66-year-old singer, impressionist and comedian Johnny Petillo, who will be showcasing his talents at The Stagecrafters Theatre, 8130 Germantown Ave., on Saturday, May 21, 8 p.m. “It was a time when Doo-Wop was starting to catch on, and my first group was called The Prells. We did some recordings and made some noise but nothing to write home about.”

But determined to keep going, Petillo traveled a great deal, making music wherever he went. “During my travels I often met up with Danny Rapp, founder of Danny and the Juniors. One day Danny asked me to join his group, and of course I accepted, and that opened lots of new doors for me. One of my first gigs with Danny happened in a giant hockey arena in Minnesota with Danny. Up to that point I was used to playing in bars or small clubs. Now here I was on the bill with such entertainers as The Drifters, The Coasters, Chubby Checker and Little Anthony and the Imperials. From then on, I knew this was what I wanted all my life.”

As a member of the Philadelphia-based Danny and the Juniors, Petillo became a valued member of a group that had recorded such well-known hits as “At the Hop” in 1957 and “Rock 'n' Roll is Here to Stay” in 1958. They toured widely throughout the U.S. and Europe. The group was inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2003.

(Danny & the Juniors appeared early in their career on ABC's The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom. They started to sing together when they were 13 and 14 years old. In 1960, the band was signed to Dick Clark's Swan Records label, and they released one more record, "Twistin' USA.” It made it into the Top 40 and became their final hit single. They went on to release several more singles but were not able to repeat their earlier successes. Founder Danny Rapp was found dead in a hotel in Arizona on April 5, 1983, of an apparent suicide at the age of 41.)

Later, Petillo moved on to sing with the Duprees, famous for such hits as “Have You Heard” and “You Belong to Me.” He left to form a twosome with another fellow Dupree dropout, Al Latta, forming Johnny and Al's Solid Gold. They also traveled all over the country, and, according to Petillo, “played every Playboy Club in the country. We did very well together until the economy started to stall in the '90s and the clubs began to close. So, on my own, I moved out to L.A. to continue working, even trying my hand at comedy.”

Petillo continue to refine his craft, leading to appearances on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, Late Night with David Letterman and Tony Orlando's musical “Juke Box Dreams.” He has also toured on many occasions with Orlando and still periodically joins him on the road. In fact, he recently joined Orlando at the Borgata Hotel-Casino in Atlantic City.

Over the years, Petillo hosted his own radio show and his long-running Johnny Petillo Show on TV. As well as his own one-man shows, Petillo performs as Dean Martin, completing the trio of the Rat Pack — Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. — in the touring production of “The Rat Pack Together Again” that is a tribute to the three deceased superstars.

And on May 21, Petillo says his one-man show, titled “Doo Wop Days and Vegas Nights,” will combine all of his talents “because when I'm on the stage, I love to do it all. My only hope for the future is to just continue working. This is my life.”

For ticket information, call 1-800-838-3006. More about Petillo at www.facebook.com/johnny.petillo.