Alumni Summer Binge Series Pt. IV: ‘The Sopranos’
Arguably the greatest television show of all time and definitely the show that helped usher in the television revolution; the revolution that brought us such great television as The Wire, Breaking Bad, and Mad Men. There was a new standard for television, The Sopranos had arrived in January of 1999. No longer was it just going to be cheap serials with a new storyline each week but rather a storyline carried out through fewer episodes with a focus on character development. Over its six-season run, the show was nominated for a whopping 111 Primetime Emmys, winning twenty-one, as well as, five Golden Globes out of twenty-three nominations. For part four of our Alumni Summer Binge Series, we showcase eight alumni who appeared throughout its run and the characters they played.
The show follows Tony Soprano as he climbs the mafia hierarchy while struggling with family life and newly arrived panic attacks. The attacks start to interfere with his work so he begins to see a therapist. Max Casella (Class of 1987) once again appears in our ‘Binge Series,’ and why shouldn’t he! Here he plays Benny, who became one of Tony’s closest underlings. Benny rose through the ranks due to his close friendship with Christopher, Tony’s nephew, eventually serving as Tony’s driver and even as his protector when he is put in the hospital. At one point, due to Benny’s closeness to Tony, he is beaten to near death by one of Tony’s rivals which leads to him becoming a made man. The character first shows up in episode three of season three and is last seen as a getaway driver on a critical hit that brought both him and Tony retribution in the final episode of the series. Benny made an appearance in twenty-eight of the eighty-six episode run and stayed loyal to Tony through all of it. Casella can most recently be seen in Amazon Prime’s The Tender Bar and on The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. Keep an eye out for him this fall on Paramount’s Tulsa King.
Throughout the run of the show, Tony has several extramarital affairs, but none of them are as potent or haunting as the one he carries out with Gloria Trillo, played by Annabella Sciorra (Class of 1980). Gloria and Tony first meet in the waiting room of Dr. Melfi, Tony’s therapist. A connection sparks and Tony begins to pursue her by showing up at her work and taking her to his boat. The relationship grows into one that seems to be meaningful to Tony, but he soon learns of Gloria’s severe anger problem. After going back and forth, Tony finally decides to call it off, much to the chagrin of Gloria, who threatens to tell his family, but once Tony sends a guy to threaten her, he never hears from her again. The woman haunts Tony, however, as he often dreams about her. The relationship occurs in a seven-episode arc. Sciorra is known for such movies as Reversal of Fortune, Cop Land, and Find Me Guilty. She has appeared on the television shows Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Daredevil, and Blue Bloods.
The late Rae Allen (Class of 1947) took over the recurring role of Aunt Quintina Blundetto in episode two of season five. Aunt Quin is the mother of Tony’s cousin Tony B. (played by Steve Buscemi), who stays with her right after getting out of prison. She’s very nervous about her son’s affairs and worries about him a lot. Her final appearance was in the episode “Test Dream” when Tony calls her in an attempt to track down Tony B., who is out seeking revenge on someone, which may cause problems for the family. Allen’s movie career jumped off from her first credit in the film adaption of the hit-musical Damn Yankees, which had garnered her a Tony Award on Broadway. From there, she had a steady career in film and television, appearing in the TV show Soap and the films A League of Their Own and Reign Over Me. She was nominated thrice for a Tony Award, winning for portraying the over-zealous public education administrator Fleur Stein in And Miss Reardon Drinks A Little.
Louis Mustillo’s (Class of 1983) Sal Vitro is an innocent gardener who works the street of Paulie “Walnuts’” mother. Sal is loved by Paulie’s mother and all the other old ladies he works for. He is struggling so much that he has to pull his kid out of college because he can’t afford it. Feech La Manna is one of the oldest gangsters around, and he’s just released from prison. He’s looking for ways to score and to take back his ground. One day he is driving by and sees Sal working a yard. He snaps, beats Sal up – breaking his arm – and declares that this is his nephew’s territory and Sal can no longer work it. Paulie’s Mother is very unhappy about this and asks Paulie to do something about it. This launches a small territorial dispute between Paulie and Feech that eventually involves Tony having to settle it – splitting the territory. Sal gets part of his route back but now has to kick up a portion of profits to Paulie as well as do a couple of lawns for free to keep certain people satisfied.
