KristyWes

Best Night of My Life This Week

(Source)

Last night found me and 2 friends at Elaine's, a venerable Upper East Side establishment. There were no tables available when we arrived so we settled at the bar, attended to by Kevin, the affable and informative bartender.

"Any of you ladies "Sopranos" fans?" he asked while pouring our drinks.

I told him that I was. [For those of you not aware, I am actually pretty obsessed with the Sopranos these days. I pretty much think it is the best television show e-v-e-r, and am greatly indebted to M&D for loaning me the dvds for Seasons 1-5!]

Kevin leaned in and pointed to a long table behind us. "That's 'Uncle Junior', over there." And sure enough, it was: actor Dominic Chianese and his large party of friends & family were sitting not 20 feet behind me.

As if it wasn't exciting enough just to be in the same restaurant as the man who so skillfully portrayed Corrado "Junior" Soprano, Tony Soprano's power-hungry lady-loving federally-indicted uncle, things then got even better: Mr. Chianese's party asked him to get up and sing a song and HE DID! A hush fell over the place as he stood, cleared his throat, and launched into a beautiful Italian song, full of vibratto and emotion. I couldn't help but recall the scene from Season 3 where Uncle Junior sang a similar song at Jackie Aprille Jr.'s wake. Classic.

Later in the evening Mr. Chianese was asked for a second performance, and he delivered a rousing Irish song about a girl named Patty Reilly. My friends and I were just about to leave at that point, and we stood near the door looking back into the scene: all eyes fixed on Mr. Chianese in his grey tweeds as he moved in a slow circle, spinning the tale of Ms. Reilly in a believable brogue accented with telling arm gestures and pregnant pauses, and spinning for me a sepia-toned NYC memory of an evening at Elaine's.