After moving with my husband to New York in 2000, a good friend there couldn’t believe we hadn’t seen The Sopranos before. He said it was “the best TV show on the planet”. So, after he’d loaned us the first series on DVD, our Sunday night ritual of watching new episodes on HBO began and continued after we moved back to London in 2005, right up until the show’s iconic onion ring ending in 2007.
Despite knowing episodes and lines inside out – Full Leather Jacket, “Interior Decorator”, Johnny Cakes, “Name That Pope” and so on – if I come across a repeat on TV I watch it anyway, immersing myself in New Jersey. I was so enamoured by it that, four years ago, I devoted an entire Boogaloo Radio show to The Sopranos, with clips, conversation and music.
Whaddya say? I’m a woman who loves mob dramas, with Goodfellas still my favourite film to this day.
Last May we found out that Michael Imperioli (who played Christopher) and Steve Schirripa (who played Bobby) were taking their Talking Sopranos podcast on a live tour. Hosted by comedian Joey Kola, the 90-minute show promised behind-the-scenes stories, clips and a Q&A. When we saw it was coming to the London Palladium, my husband, Gerard, and I booked immediately.
On arrival, the super-efficient door staff at the Palladium ushered us straight inside. There were barely any women in the crowd. On the way in, we heard one say: “I’ve never seen the show, I hope I enjoy it!” Clearly, someone’s plus one for the evening.
In the bar queue, some guys from Milton Keynes talked about their train times home then started asking each other’s ages. “I’m 31,” said one. “No way,” said the other, “I’m not even 30 yet.” I thought this was young for a Sopranos audience, until I realised that was about our age when we began watching the show.
As we took our seats, we reminisced about enjoying such an iconic series while living just across the river from New Jersey. The opening credit shot was one of the last television sequences to feature the Twin Towers, near where we lived in Manhattan. A voice with a familiar American accent came over the PA: “Turn off your cell phones. No photography.” It sounded less like a polite request than a warning about an overdue collection.
After Kola, who looked like he could have been part of the cast, had done a ten-minute skit about his life as a self-identified “fat man” – including a demonstration of the flexibility of his click belt – Talking Sopranos began with a bit of a crowd gasp as a video of James Gandolfini, Tony Soprano himself, looking cinematic on a big screen, talking in a very familiar, moving family clip about “remembering the little things”.
I could feel it bringing a lump to every throat in the room, which is quite incredible. He played a complex and evil man, yet his very presence would melt you like an ice cream. How did he do that? As explained later by our hosts, it involved a sprinkling of unique Gandolfini magic: “We all miss Jim. He really was something special.”
From there, the evening settled into an affectionate, well-rehearsed rhythm. Stories about auditions, on-set mishaps and cast dynamics flowed easily. The one heckler was handled well. “Hey fella, if I need your help I’ll ask for it, okay?” said Schirripa.
Everywhere I looked, there were wise guys proudly wearing Bada-Bing! T-shirts as if considering applying for a job. The couple to my left were from Kent, and a smiling man who let me pass him in the aisle said, “No problem luv!” in a full-English-breakfast Essex accent. A man who asked a question at the Q&A was from Watford. The place seemed to teem with people who had travelled into London to see the show. This made the experience even better, as if a New Jersey crowd had come to Manhattan for a night out.
There were a few mentions of the female cast, in particular having to be on their A-game when working in scenes with Edie Falco, who played Carmela Soprano, Tony’s wife. I would have loved to have heard more about the women in the cast. For me, the ensemble of female titans were the very gabagool of the show. I had some questions. But only one fellow wise gal managed to get a word in during the Q&A. Nevertheless, it was an excellent, moving and immersive evening in the company of New Jersey royalty.
Talking Sopranos at the London Palladium ends on 2 March. Follow Julie Hamill on Instagram.
OnLondon.co.uk is funded by sales of publisher and editor Dave Hill’s twice-weekly newsletter On London Extra. To start receiving it, become a paying subscriber to Dave’s personal Substack or follow any Support link on this site. Thanks.