Peabody drummer, band enjoy Hollywood minute

PEABODY – A Peabody native will make his debut on the silver screen this Friday in “Grown Ups,” starring Adam Sandler, Chris Rock and Kevin James.Drummer Donn Carr, 66, and his Carrtunes Jazz Band can be seen performing the “Battle Hymn of the Republic” in the Fourth of July picnic scene in “Grown Ups.””We spent almost three days on the set,” Carr said. “I don’t know how much they will actually show of us in the movie. Hopefully we’ll be in it for at least 15 seconds. I want to be able to say I had my 15 seconds of fame. I don’t need my 15 minutes of fame – just give me my 15 seconds.”With a laugh, Carr admits when he got the call asking the band to appear in the movie he thought someone was pulling a prank on him.”I got a phone call from someone who said they were a casting director and wanted to hire us for a movie,” he said. “My reaction was, ‘Who is this?’ because I thought it was a joke. So I kept playing along and asking, ‘Who is this?’ The woman said she wanted to hire us for an Adam Sandler movie and I told her I’d have to get back to her.”After he hung up the phone, Carr said he looked up the casting company on the Internet and realized it was a bona fide offer.”I started playing when I was 10 years old,” he said. “I started my own band in 1997 and when we put a new album out last year we put some of our music on our Web site (www.donncarr.com). A casting director was looking for a local band to play for the Fourth of July scene that was being filmed in Essex for the movie and saw our music on the Internet. We didn’t even have to audition or anything.”Carr said he had the time of his life on the set last July and the band was treated like royalty.”It was like a vacation,” he said. “The day we arrived they had a big breakfast all set up and told us to help ourselves. It was like a cruise ship. There was food everywhere all the time. The crew would do anything for us and everyone was so nice. It was awesome. We all had a great time.”After the band members had eaten their fill at the breakfast buffet on the first day of the shoot, they went to hair, make up and wardrobe.”The outfits were kind of goofy,” Carr said. “The hats and ties look a little silly but they had already asked our sizes, so at least the clothes fit.”Carr said the band spent approximately 10 hours a day on set for several days.”They gave us a list of patriotic songs,” he said. “Then we realized a lot of movie making is standing around waiting, but it was a lot of fun. I got to meet Chris Rock and he was so nice. My 9-year-old grandson is a huge fan of Kevin James and I got to meet him. I met most of the stars and they were all so nice to us.”Also appearing in the movie are Carr’s band members, Lynn resident Tom Reppucci, bass player Max Whiting of Winthrop and guitarist Casper Gyldensoe of Denmark.