Thread by @HertzBarry

Oh! I'm here at the Meadowlands Expo Centre in New Jersey for first-ever #SopranosCon, which is as bananas as I hoped for. For instance: I just watched Tony "Larry Boy Barese" Darrow deliver a standup comedy set that, were I to post it on Twitter, would surely get me deactivated.

✅ Tony Soprano Sneakers
✅ Vincent Pastore Marinara Sauce
✅ Actual Screen Legend Burt Young
✅ Pie O My!
#SopranosCon

Are there local actors here performing scenes from The Sopranos as interstitial material? Of course there are. #SopranosCon

✅ Cannoli-Eating Contest
✅ Tony Sirico Getting the Hell Outta Here to Take a Fuckin' Nap, Tone
✅ Fat Dom's Frozen Severed Head
✅ Pine Barrens: The Maze!
#SopranosCon

Is there Nick "Oscar Winner For Real" Vallelonga, steps away from his Sopranos-verse counterpart Ray "Litttle Carmine" Abruzzo, talking about his father Tony "Carmine Lupertazzi" Lip, and then defending GREEN BOOK's representation of Dr. Don Shirley? Of course! #SopranosCon

✅ Recreation of Dr. Melfi's Office
✅ Faux Bada Bing Strictly Used for Trivia Contest Purposes
✅ Karen Baccalieri's Frozen Ziti
✅ The Spectre of James Gandolfini Looming Over Everything
#SopranosCon

✅ Costume Contest w/ Baby as Uncle Junior Under House Arrest, Complete w/ Ankle-Monitor ("Artie Bucco" won)
✅ Jacket That Jackie Jr. Was Shot In
✅ Chicken Sandwich Recommended to Me By Richard "Albert Barese" Maldone (Very Good)
✅ Tony's Escalade (Very Shiny)
#SopranosCon

After Fyre Fest-lite experience w/promised "VIP dinner," organizers bringing exactly one actor at a time onstage to answer exactly one audience question. Gotta say Jason "Jackie Jr." Cerbone hasn't aged a day. Legit good Q from fan: "When are you graduating Rutgers?" #SopranosCon

✅ Gun-Shaped Ice Sculpture Slowly Melting While Vincent Pastore Sits Nearby
✅ David "Richie Aprile" Proval Clearly Eager to Leave the Stage
✅ The Entire Audience Trying to Get a Photo of All Attending Cast Members
✅ Alabama 3 Performing "Woke Up This Morning"!
#SopranosCon

Closer look at @TheAlabama3's performance of "Woke Up This Morning," complete with Matt "Agent Harris" Servitto totally rocking out. #SopranosCon

Oh, marone! Back at #SopranosCon for Day 2. Highlight so far: discovering that the guys wandering around in FBI jackets are actually retired FBI agents. Here's Warren Flagg, who's arrested many wise guys, and was undercover in Florida and Montreal. "The Bureau loved the show!"

✅ Katherine "Charmaine Bucco" and Vincent "Big Pussy" Pastore Telling Everyone Correct Pronunciation of "Scorsese"
✅ Executive Game Poker w/ David "Richie Aprile" Proval & Narducci
✅ Model Train Set in Honour of Bobby Baccala, RIP
✅ James Gandolfini Everywhere
#SopranosCon

The greatest thing about #SopranosCon is the informal, endearing sloppiness of it. A Vincent Pastore/Katherine Narducci panel has somehow turned into Pastore and Vincent "Johnny Sack" Curatola complaining about their trip to Saudi Arabia, with David Proval nodding along.

A legendary meeting of turncoats (or rats, if you're using the proper vernacular): Vincent Pastore and @dreadematteo, the latter of whom is easily drawing the largest autograph lines of the day. (Pastor then posed for pics with De Matteo's daughter.) #SopranosCon

✅ CLEAVER Movie Poster
✅ Recreation of Tony's (Last?) Holsten's Supper
✅ So Very Many Cannoli
✅ Inventive Adriana & FBI Agent Ciccerone-Waldrup Cosplay, Complete with Plush Cosette
#SopranosCon

Private pilgrimage to Holsten's, where the onion rings are indeed the best in the state. #SopranosCon

And that's it for #SopranosCon. Was hoping weekend would end w/ screening of teaser for THE MANY SAINTS OF NEWARK or something, but no dice. I did learn zero original Sopranos cast members are in it (Tony Sirico apparently recorded narration, but that's been scrapped). Salut. 🇮🇹