“Cooking with the Calamari Sisters” at Herberger Theater Center
“Cooking with the Calamari Sisters” has made its Phoenix debut during a limited engagement at Herberger Theater Center through January 28. Two over-the-top, larger-than-life Italian sisters from Brooklyn take audiences on a tour-de-force of show tunes, dancing, saucy humor, and of course cooking as they star in their very own fictional cable television show, “Mangia Italiano.” A live performance unlike any other, “Cooking with the Calamari Sisters” features a hefty serving of song and dance, failed dishes and sibling rivalry as show hosts, Delphine and Carmela Calamari try to make it through their final broadcast in one piece. Botched Italian cooking, food fights, off-color jokes, and ad lib banter with audience members are just a few of the ingredients that keep the laughter going until curtain call. Tickets are available at the Herberger Theater Box Office: 602-252-8497 or www.herbergertheater.org.
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00 Us Italians are known for our delicious skills in the kitchen and behind a microphone.
00:07 Think Rosemary Clooney, Dean Martin, and of course the Calamari sisters, Delphine and
00:13 Carmella Calamari are taking the Herberger Theatre by storm and we are lucky enough to
00:19 have them here with us today to give us a little taste of their show.
00:24 Ladies, welcome.
00:25 Thank you for having us.
00:27 Absolutely.
00:28 Next time we're doing it in the afternoon, these early mornings are way too much for me.
00:32 I understand.
00:33 It is early, but we are so excited to have you here.
00:37 So tell everybody at home a little bit about you two and what they're going to experience
00:41 when they come out to the Herberger.
00:42 Well, our show is the only all singing, all dancing, all cooking, cooking show out there.
00:48 You got that?
00:49 Yes.
00:50 Okay, wow.
00:51 All Italian, of course.
00:52 Yes.
00:53 Oh, I love it.
00:54 And we're from Bay Ridge, Brooklyn.
00:55 We came all the way out here just to bring a little taste of New York.
00:58 And our family, of course, because you know, Italian, it's all about family.
01:02 It is.
01:03 Yes.
01:04 If you come, you're going to laugh.
01:05 You're going to forget about the world and laugh for two hours straight and you're going
01:08 to leave feeling like you're a Calamari.
01:11 And I heard you want to be a third Calamari.
01:12 I would love that.
01:13 Can I please join the Calamari?
01:14 You have to eat something.
01:15 In fact, we have a gift for you and Brad.
01:19 Oh, really?
01:20 We have our aprons.
01:21 You get to choose and Brad can take whatever you didn't take.
01:24 Okay.
01:25 I love it.
01:26 Kiss the cook.
01:27 And if you don't have, what does it say?
01:30 Leftovers.
01:31 Leftovers.
01:32 You didn't cook enough.
01:33 You didn't cook enough.
01:34 That is very, very true to our Italian culture.
01:35 Yes, you always have to make more than enough so you can have some for the next day.
01:39 It's true.
01:40 I'll take this one.
01:41 Brad can have that one.
01:42 Brad, I'll have this one.
01:43 More saucy.
01:44 Yes, I like it.
01:45 So what you guys do is you are recording your television show, Mangia Italiano, in front
01:52 of the studio audience there at the Herberger, correct?
01:55 Correct.
01:56 Yes, it's Mangia Italiano.
01:57 It's a little cooking show back in Baybridge, Brooklyn.
02:00 It airs on public access cable station WFAT.
02:03 WFAT.
02:04 Got it.
02:05 Okay.
02:06 So it's a lot of fun, guys.
02:11 I mean, we tell jokes, we tell stories about our family, we cook dishes.
02:17 Sometimes the audience gets involved.
02:18 It's very lots.
02:19 Sometimes the audience gets to try some of your dishes.
02:23 If they're lucky, yes.
02:24 Yes.
02:25 Or they can help us with a dish, maybe.
02:26 I love it.
02:27 Okay, fantastic.
02:28 No two shows are ever the same.
02:30 Oh, that's the truth.
02:32 So everyone coming can be prepared to see something completely unique and different each time.
02:37 So that's why you have to come multiple nights, right?
02:40 Exactly.
02:41 That's right.
02:42 Come every night.
02:43 Sure.
02:44 Bring that with you.
02:45 We have people who come back with other people just so they can watch that person watch the
02:47 show.
02:48 That's true.
02:49 That is a show in and of itself.
02:51 So tell me about some of the numbers that you do.
02:54 All the Italian and American.
02:55 Okay.
02:56 So like you said, yeah, Louis Prima, Rosemary Clooney.
03:00 Of course, Rosemary.
03:01 Yes.
03:02 Of course, Rosemary.
03:03 Songs like you'd hear in a restaurant.
03:04 That's amore.
03:05 What else would you do?
03:06 Valare.
03:07 Of course, valare.
03:08 So you sing in Italian as well.
03:10 Yes, of course, sometimes.
03:11 A little bit.
03:12 A little touch.
03:13 Yeah.
03:14 And I do a whole tour de force medley.
03:16 It's fabulous.
03:17 Oh, my goodness.
03:18 Yeah.
03:19 Okay.
03:20 Well, this all sounds absolutely fantastic, and I wish we could try some of your delicious
03:24 food, but we can hear a little bit of your gorgeous singing voices, right?
03:29 You certainly can.
03:30 Yes.
03:31 Okay.
03:32 Fabulous.
03:33 I know it's early.
03:34 I understand.
03:35 I'm a singer too, so I understand it's early, but I'm excited to hear.
03:38 So ladies, take it away.
03:42 I'm excited to hear it.
03:49 I'm excited to hear it.
03:58 I'm excited to hear it.
04:16 I'm excited to hear it.
04:41 I'm excited to hear it.
04:53 I'm excited to hear it.
04:58 I'm excited to hear it.
04:59 I'm excited to hear it.
05:00 I'm excited to hear it.
05:00 [BLANK_AUDIO]