Read on Twitter
I’m here
fifth contestant for the cannoli eating contest is missing so they took an audience volunteer
this seems difficult
this champion ate 14 cannolis and won.... a $100 gift certificate for more cannolis
shout out to SopranosCon for their dedicated Wifi
I asked the guy who played the man in the Members Only jacket from the finale if he did it. he chuckled and said “if I tell you... they hang me”
tried to say hi to Goldee, the horse who played Pie-O-My, was told that she’s “on break.” glad she’s got a good union rep
this is the line to meet Adriana
just saw some snot-nosed 20-year-old salute another snot-nosed 20-year-old wearing a Trump 2020 hat 
Texas Hold Em and e-cigars with Burt Young (left), Bobby Baccalieri Sr., who went out doing one of the wildest hits on the series. I’d join but I’m so embarrassingly bad at poker that I’d be laughed out of the “casino”
Little Carmine and Johnny Sack reuinited for the first time since the final season premiere
they’re disagreeing about who Carmine Sr. liked more
Vincent Curatola (Johnny Sack) says Pine Barrens is his favorite episode, because it’s “hysterical” and “the only time you see Tony Sirico’s hair messed up”
Ray Abruzzo says he got the part of Little Carmine because he made the choice to mispronounce “Versailles” on his audition tape
we’re in Jersey but i guess New York won the coveted pizza contract. just housed a grandma square
the pine barrens maze is legitimately difficult (and includes the ketchup truck)
I can’t believe they have the Scrabble game where Jackie Jr. played the word “ass”
the Bing was open for business at noon and immediately packed
the dancer came over to say hi to this little kid and he was grinning from ear to ear. some bros at the other end of the bar yelled “ATTABOY!!” https://twitter.com/Madeline_Gobbo/status/1198670765282885633
damn gotta find her so I can finally get my tramp stamp of goth Vito Jr. https://twitter.com/amandamull/status/1198671996806205440
Bobby and Janice are early faves in the costume contest—she’s even got the Rolling Stones tattoo
THEY WON!!!
(the guy in the bathrobe as Tony even ate prosciutto on stage but it wasn’t enough)
(there was also, I must note, a very hot Dr. Melfi who i imagine is getting hit on a lot today)
at the VIP lounge
expecting a cast “red carpet” any minute now. there’s carpet, probably because they had to roll up a dead body in it
scratch that, apparently last night was such a shitshow that the cast is staying at booths for the VIP stuff. waiting on Furio now
MY HEART WAS BEATING A MILE A MINUTE
and told him I love his artwork https://twitter.com/yashwinacanter/status/1198686996866248704
PIE-O-MY LIVES!!!!!!!
i said i always thought it was a bummer Jackie Jr. didn’t get to go into fashion
the actor who plays Melfi’s rapist is here, complete with the Employee of the Month photo, and i cannot even look at his face
dude is getting a leg tattoo of Tony smoking a cigar in the pool (top right design)
I ran into the cannoli eating champion and congratulated him on the big win. he said, “Thanks bro. Wasn’t much competition up there.”
makings of a varsity athlete??
this display caused me to instantly weep: the NJ Hi-Railers set up Bobby’s actual train models. they also confirmed to me that the Blue Comet was a real train that ran from Jersey City to Atlantic City, and that $8,000, the price quoted to Bobby for the model, is reasonable
guy at the Holsten’s table offers some bold implications about canon, saying it’s the site of “Tony’s last supper”
this feels like..... a scam
Alabama 3 (who did “Woke Up This Morning” from the Sopranos opening credits) have hit the stage
THEY PLAYED IT
of all the jumpsuits I’ve seen today, Big Pussy’s looks the most comfortable
this guy is gone now so I can post his extremely cursed merch
Tony’s whip
currently still a very long line for Adriana who I think has taken a break, only other line/person still signing is Charmaine Bucco (also on break for the moment)
they are not. major oversight imho https://twitter.com/Lubchansky/status/1198714182155284488
Adriana and Charmaine taking photos during a somewhat chaotic Q&A
sorry, phone died from posting too hard, but home now and can share some final highlights
first of all, the one and only Dominic Chianese sang a few lovely songs, including the love theme from The Godfather and the one he sings at Vesuvio in the show
the art was in abundance btw
Karen Baccalieri had my favorite booth prop
like I said, the final Q&A was kind of a disorganized mess, everyone mulling about on stage. but someone did ask Mikey Palmice: “Did they ever find a cure for fuckface-itis?”
there was some chanting for Paulie, but I didn’t see Tony Sirico all day. guessing Saturday had been more than enough for him lol
Federico Castellucio (Furio) got emotional and reared up on stage toward the end. Gandolfini’s absence was a huge theme of the night, and everyone seemed to have a story about how kind and welcoming he was, how he led their “family,” and was an incomparable actor
oh and apologies to Mario Polit, who played Jesus Rossi, aka Employee of the Month, and actually seems really nice! when he got the mic everyone booed him, he said he was the most hated character on the show and should’ve died, but that he’s a good guy and a firefighter IRL
Armen Garo, who plays Coco (the guy Tony pistol-whips and curb-stomps for making a lewd remark about Meadow), was the one to bring up another convention: “Do you all wanna do it again next year? Because I do!” he said
they fittingly let Paolo Colandrea, the man in the Members Only jacket, and who had flown in from Italy, have the last word: “As to what I did, you’ll have to figure it out for yourselves”
all in all, the cast seemed tired but touched by how much people love the series. someone pointed out that they were mostly just unknown actors in New York who couldn’t get enough work there—and then got the gig of a lifetime
oh, and I twice heard the story about how Tony Lip (Carmine Sr.) fell asleep in the casket when they were shooting his funeral scene, and they kept having to cut because he was loudly snoring. good stuff
i grew up in north Jersey and this was the most Jersey day I’ve ever experienced. frankly overstimulating and i don’t know how people do multiple fan cons a year. but afterward i drove home on the Turnpike and now i feel like i’m centered enough to watch an episode of Sopranos
thanks for following this ridiculous thread! hope you’re all enjoying gabagool straight out of the fridge tonight
made my parents watch the pilot of The Sopranos with me. hoping they stick with it this time!
Here it is: an ode to my home state, the greatest show ever, and our first, miraculous SopranosCon—a New Jersey of the mind. https://melmagazine.com/en-us/story/sopranoscon-2019-sopranos-fan-festival
By the way, there was so much stuff at SopranosCon I couldn't capture it all in the twitter thread and article. Other fun details:
—a food stall called "No F-ing Ziti"
—Vincent Pastore selling shirts that said "Big Pussy's Not Dead, He's in Chicago"
—Blood-spattered costumes
—a food stall called "No F-ing Ziti"
—Vincent Pastore selling shirts that said "Big Pussy's Not Dead, He's in Chicago"
—Blood-spattered costumes
—At one point during the final Q&A, with way too many people on stage, Jerry Adler (Hesh) pushed his walker to the front and took the mic to say, "Yeah, I got a question: what the hell are we doing here?" in pitch-perfect Borscht Belt style
—A funny thing about meeting the Sopranos cast is most of them played very intimidating people, so it was a little stressful at first! Federico Castelluccio saw a guy get one of his autographs and sharply asked his manager "Did that guy pay?" I was worried they'd beat him up lol
—Someone I expected to do better in the costume contest went as Rocco DiMeo, "the toughest guy in Essex county,” complete with famous jacket. Didn’t get a pic but it was magnificent. Most overheard quote of the day was for sure people saying “The jaaacket!” like Richie Aprile
—Many actors brought up the moment of finding out their character was getting killed off. Al Sapienza (Mikey Palmice) begged David Chase to let him live past season one. Christine Pedi (Karen Baccalieri) learned of her fate when a makeup person let it slip
—At one point someone on stage couldn’t remember the name of Steve Buscemi’s character and at least five people shouted “that animal Blundetto!!”
Jeff........... tHank
