Courtesy photo / A still from the upcoming movie “The Polka King” shows Altoona native Steve Saive (left) performing alongside Jack Black.

Courtesy photo / A still from the upcoming movie “The Polka King” shows Altoona native Steve Saive (left) performing alongside Jack Black.

With a trumpet pressed to his lips, Steve Saive stands on a stage next to movie star Jack Black as he belts out a tune.

That’s the scene painted in a still photograph from the upcoming release of “The Polka King,” a movie about the notorious musician Jan Lewan that is scheduled for a Friday Netflix release.

What the photo doesn’t convey is that Saive, a former member of the real Jan Lewan Orchestra, once lived in Altoona and played a trumpet in the local high school

band.

On Tuesday, the 53-year-old musician was preparing for upcoming appearances on CBS’ “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” and NBC’s “Today Show.”

“I’m just excited about it, you know,” Saive said. “I’m not the least bit nervous.”

Saive, a 1982 graduate of Altoona Area High School, was still enrolled at the school, when he was first approached to play as a part of a polka band.

Stan Galant, who leads the Altoona-based band, The Hallmarks, said Saive’s family lived in a home across the street from him.

“I could hear him. He was over there practicing,” Galant said, explaining those practice sessions prompted him to invite Saive to join the band. “He was still in high school.”

As a member of The Hallmarks, Saive toured the coast to perform, and at one of those performances, he met Lewan.

“He convinced me to join his band,” Saive said. “With that band, we traveled all over the world. You name it; we were traveling everywhere.”

That Pennsylvania-based band, the Jan Lewan Orchestra, and its namesake leader are the focus of a movie, “The Polka King,” which is to appear Friday on the online video streaming service Netflix.

A synopsis on Netflix describes the movie as a “comedy based on a true story,” but that doesn’t mean the band hasn’t faced hardships.

“There were some tragedies along the way,” Saive said. “We had a bus crash that killed two musicians in the band.”

Saive mentioned the bus crash several times while discussing the upcoming movie but did not elaborate, saying only, “I try to forget.”

An Associated Press article published in 2001 reported that Saive, then 36, was driving a 1991 Ford mini-bus carrying eight members of the band in South Carolina, where it crashed into a bridge column.

Saive allegedly fell asleep and lost control of the vehicle. Two members of the Grammy-nominated band, Thomas Karas, 54, and John Stabinsky, 23, died in the crash, according to the AP report.

Lewan, himself, was later arrested and sent to prison for his part in a scheme that defrauded investors to the tune of several million dollars.

Lewan’s arrest in the early 2000s ultimately ended the band, which Saive said he had been a part of for more than a decade.

“He was heading off to prison, so that was pretty much the end of it,” Saive said.

Saive said he isn’t worried about the inclusion of the band’s shortcomings in the upcoming movie.

“Actually, it helps to bring closure to the anxieties,” Saive said, noting a documentary, “The Man Who Would Be Polka King,” already chronicled the story of Lewan and his band.

That documentary, Saive said, largely inspired Black to take on the upcoming movie’s lead role.

“They showed it to Jack Black, and he said, ‘I want to be that guy,'” Saive said.

Lewan speaks with a heavy accent, which Black had to mimic. To maintain that accent, Black spoke in broken English even when not filming, Saive said.

Black’s text messages even reflected Lewan’s speech, Saive said.

Saive had a chance to work alongside Black to record the movie’s soundtrack, which includes songs sung by the movie star.

Saive said he was surprised by how well Black could sing the polka songs and by how friendly the actor was.

“He is really nice, very down to earth,” said Saive, who now lives in the Hazleton area and serves as a principal at Keystone Job Corps Center in Drums.

Saive will appear beside Black in the film, where he plays the trumpet in a number of band performance scenes.

Saive made sure to point out that his brother, John, was able to serve as an extra in the film.

“The Polka King” debuted at the Sundance Film Festival last January, and a year later, it will get its Netflix release.

“It’s been a long year,” Saive said, speaking over the phone from a New York hotel.

Prior to the Netflix release, Saive is to appear alongside Black to promote the movie.

That includes tonight’s 11:35 episode of “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” and Thursday morning’s “Today Show.”

Mirror Staff Writer Cherie Hicks contributed to this story. Mirror Staff Writer Sean Sauro is at 946-7535.