I have noticed that the way I look at some of the experiences in my life, growing up Italian-American, and things I say in my live shows and on my radio show, Filippo and the Chef, strike a chord with so many people, Italians, Italian-Americans and people of all walks of life, that I decided to journal some of them on a weekly basis and I invite everyone to chime in about their Italian connections and experiences.
Last week I was invited to the 5th Annual Global Green Pre-Oscar Party by a couple friends of mine, Janet Baghoomian and Antoine Bonsorte. Yes, one of them is Italian, can you guess which one.
In fact, remember in one of my last posts I was speaking about the Italian-French connection and of a family who moved from Italy to France? Well, Antonie's family did the same, and so he too speaks better French than Italian.
But in whatever language you listen to him speak, he is an artist par excellence (French word, right?, he, he). Check out his work at www.Bonsorte.com.
At any rate, it was a great event, and Antoine wasn't the only Italian there. I ran into many, including my friend and actress Jodi London from Chicago.
Of course it was a star studded event ala Hollywood and the Oscar Parties, but in this case instead of a "red" carpet, they had a "green" carpet. Global Green is all about promoting smart solutions to global warming, and the event was to benefit global green's climate change initiatives, including the green rebuilding of New Orleans.
Unlike at other events, this time I hung out mainly with my friends and managed to get only pictures of me and them, which was just fine with me.
I did get a shot with fellow Italian-American actor and TV show host Mark DeCarlo who I always enjoy running into and various events, both Italian and Socially Conscious ones. Mark is working on a new show and he told us soon that he would tell us all about it. So, I look forward to that.
We got to enjoy a performance by Italian-Brasilian singer Michael Franti. See the video below of actual footage from the event.
So here's to a greener world,
Filippo
P.S. Below is the video of Italian- Brasilian singer Michael Franti I found on Youtube.com of his performance at this year's Global Green Pre-Oscar Party. (In English)
I have to say that this could be a bit overwhelming. I have never seen so many pictures of me from one event before in my entire performance life. Literally, I have been sent and have seen hundreds upon hundreds of pictures of me with hundreds of facial expressions, position of mouth, body gesticulations and in various strides across the stage.
It seems that there were more than a few photographers at the Feast of San Gennaro in Los Angeles this year who took a liking to what Chef Richard and I were doing as part of our live version of the Filippo and the Chef show, and we are so grateful for the attention. Little by little they have been trickling in.
This last batch which came in today was really appreciated because it included pictures of me with people with whom I had not seen pictures of as of yet. Most specifically, I didn't have a picture with Joan Kimmel, Kimmy Kimmel's Mom and Uncle Frank.
At the top of the post is her making pasta fasul or "fagioli" with Chef Richard, with me looking on, and talking on and on, he, he. In this picture here I was telling a story about her, actually it was really about me. But it went like this.
When I met Joan that night before I gave her my E-mail address and asked her to E-mail me the recipe that she was going to make and the ingredients she needed. That next day she E-mailed me as planned. At the end of her E-mail she wrote, "I love you."
I got the E-mail and without batting an eye-lash wrote her back, "Thanks, I love you!" Just before I sent the E-mail, I happened to check her E-mail address and noticed that it wasn't her name on the E-mail but that of her son, JIMMY KIMMEL. Thank God I didn't send it. She explained to me later that she was using her sons computer at his house and sent the E-mail from his E-mail account.
So I shared that story with the audience ending it with "Can you imagine if I had sent the E-mail and Jimmy had read it?" I think, whether he thought I was saying "I love you" to him, or saw me writing it to his mother, it would have possibly been awkward either way. You know those Italians and their mothers, he, he.
Here are some other pictures that I think you would enjoy, and I guess there's no need to explain them, I will just post them here with captions, just in case they are needed. Oh yes, there were a couple other things I wanted to say.
Firstly, here is a picture of the singing group we formed especially for the Festival which we called "Filippo and the CHEFS!" The "Chefs" part of the group was made up of actors Bobby Costanzo, Johnny Capodice, and our very own Chef Richard Lombardi. It was a hoot, we sang doo wop and brought the house down because it was so funny.
And what was the other thing I wanted to say? Oh, and I wasn't kidding when I said the pictures keep coming in. I recently got an E-mail from yet another photographer, Andre, who took some fun pictures of us at the Feast and if you want to see even more pictures you can click on this link. www.sgfeast.com/filippogal02.html Thank you Andre for your interest in taking pictures of us and posting them on them web.
So that's it for now, until someone else sends some more pictures, he, he.
Filippo
Backstage with Actress, Director and Producer Penny Marshall
P.S. This Italian-American comedian, John DiResta, was coming to town and I wasn't able to go see his live stand-up, but I checked out clips of him on the web and on Youtube. In case you are not familiar with his comedy or his show, like I wasn't, I posted a clip of his and his brother Jimmy's show "Hammered," here. (In English)
Singing on stage to Actress, Model, TV Host Tanya Memme
Today I learned something very interesting, how to put captions under pictures. This could prove very important to me. The question now is, will I allow the pictures to speak their proverbial "thousand words," for themselves, or will I still feel compelled to write a thousand words or so, and risk being too verbose, or worse, redundant.
The other choice I might make is to post a thousand pictures. How many words does that make? That's a million words, right?
Better yet, in regard to this particular post, I not only have the pictures and the new know-how of how to add captions, but I also have a short video of Chef Richard and I having fun with some of our friends, old and new, performing the live version of our Filippo and the Chef Radio show on the Jimmy Kimmel Live stage of the Feast of San Gennaro in Los Angeles this past week.
So, I have decided to let the pictures do the talking, as well as the video below and wish you all a happy browsing.
But I just have to say one thing, Penny Marshall pictured with me here was sooo sweet. Well, so was Tanya and Marisa and Joan Kimmel, Jimmy Kimmel's Mom, who won't be pictured because I don't have a picture with her but you can see her cooking with Chef Richard and I on the video.
But Penny was just as funny as you would have expected her to be. She had a busy rehearsal schedule that day but she came out to the Feast in the middle of her work day just to celebrate her Italian heritage with us, and make us all laugh.
And incidentally, yes, she is Italian-American. Hear her tell you herself in the video below. I just had to post all these pictures of her because her expressions are priceless.
And speaking of video, wait, one more thing. I have to mention Pat Battistini. It's because of him that we have such a cool video. He is a writer/ director/ producer/ editor and you can learn more about him at Hoosier Daddy Films. Incidently he is also an actor, you might recognize his face from the picture I posted here but you can check out his reel by clicking here.
Thank you all for helping make this years Feast of San Gennaro LA so memorable for all of us, especially Chef Richard and myself. I guess that answered that, I still had to write a lot of words. He, he.
Filippo
P.S. If you cannot watch the video on this post, you can always go to www.Youtube.com and Search "Filippo and the Chef," or actually, just click on the following link.
KTLA News Reporter, Kim Rouggie (left) and KTLA Weather Anchor and former Miss USA 1994, Lu Parker, (right) and I
A Group we affectionately called "Filippo and the CHEFS" was a huge hit at the festival. The singing Doo Wop Group was comprised of Actors Bobby Costanzo and Johnny Capodice, Chef Richard Lombardi and myself
But in whatever language you listen to him speak, he is an artist par excellence (French word, right?, he, he). Check out his work at www.Bonsorte.com.
