This article first appeared in the Aug. 30, 2006 edition of The Charleston Gazette.
Video: Click here to hear the singers doing what they do.
If You Go: Call 344-4824 to find then next time Joe Romagnoli and Mark Scarpelli sing at Gratzi.

It's a small hall for someone with such a big voice, and tenor Joe Romagnoli fills it with sound. Romagnoli spent 30 years in New York, Boston and on the road singing in musicals, revues and occasional operas. Now he sings at Gratzi, the downtown Italian restaurant where on a recent Saturday night, Romagnoli and accordion player Mark Scarpelli strolled from table to table serenading the diners.

Some seemed stunned when they heard the first notes coming their way at close range. But before long, first-timers agreed with veterans that this was worth experiencing,

"That's why I come," said Brendan Murphy, one of two men and three women who shared a table. Romagnoli had come to his house to sing at Christmas, said Murphy, 34, a construction company owner. "My favorite music is what he sings. I love opera. He has a world-class voice."

Beth Durham had heard Romagnoli elsewhere. When Murphy called to tell her Romagnoli would be singing at Gratzi, she said, "I'm in."

Of course, Romagnoli doesn't just sing opera as he takes his gig from one room to the next, and from one table to the next.

The fare runs mostly to such Neapolitan Americana as Dean Martin's "That's Amore" and "Arrivederci Roma" plus some timeless love songs like "Unchained Melody."

"I didn't expect this," said Nicole Riser, 25, who had come to share dinner and conversation with two friends. But soon she changed her tune. "I think it adds."

"He's a good singer," said tablemate Erin Kettlewell, 24.

Gratzi manager Sherri Vance gave the duo a trial after a friend recommended them. "I'd never heard them before. He's a natural at it."

The duo has been good for business since arriving 12 months ago, Vance said. People call to ask whether the two are performing that night. If the answer is yes, callers make a reservation.

Romagnoli hasn't been able to get singing out of his system since he went to the Boston Conservatory of Music more than 45 years ago. While a student there, he worked as a singing waiter at a place called Romie's Quarterdeck in Danvers, Mass. As a performer, he worked often, but the big roles in the big houses eluded him.

Since Romagnoli, now 73, came back to Charleston a dozen years ago, he has acted in dramas and comedies and sung in operas, musicals and concerts.

"One of the things that keeps the voice going is using it," Romagnoli said. "It's like any other muscle. If you want to keep it in good shape, you have to work it out a little."

When Romagnoli approached Scarpelli, a 52-year-old composer and public school teacher, Scarpelli was a pianist who had never played accordion. "Joe Xeroxed a how-to-play book."

On this particular Saturday night, the duo started early because they had other engagements later on. Romagnoli was singing at 9 p.m. at a 25th wedding anniversary at Berry Hills Country Club. Scarpelli was playing a club date at 10 p.m. with the band Windjammer.

"I do this because I'd probably be in a lot of trouble if I didn't," Scarpelli said. "I kind of look at it as therapy. I was diagnosed with [bladder] cancer. About that time, Joe approached me about accompanying him. This took my mind off that."