Actors & Cameras come to A&S Fine Italian Foods

A&S Fine Italian Foods of Stamford was the location for the filming of a scene for an independent short festival film, titled “Charlie Roo” produced by Derelict Films, and features well known film & TV actor, Robert Funaro, from “The Sopranos,” "The Irishman," and "American Gangster." This Italian-American family drama, echoes the dramatic anthology style of the Golden Age of Television, and takes place in the mid 1990’s, with one flashback scene to an Italian grocery store, circa 1969.

Filming on the last Sunday of July, six actors in period costume, with a crew of seven members, recreated the nostalgia of the 1969 era. The title of the film, “Charlie Roo,” is said by a young Italian-American character in the film, Little Charlie Corelli, played by Liam Congrave. He mentions to his mother, Mamma Corelli, played by Alexandra Imbrosci-Viera, that the new and enticing whipped cream pastry with a cherry on top (a Charlotte Russe) is called a ‘Charlie Roo’.

The screenplay is written by Frank S. Petrilli, the film’s director and senior partner of Derelict Films. “Charlie Roo” is a film based on a true story told by actor Charles Macari (deceased) originally from Stamford. Macari, the youngest of his siblings, went to Hollywood and joined actor Michael Dante, also of Stamford, to pursue a career in show business. Macari ultimately worked for Jerry Lewis Productions. Upon his retirement, Macari returned to Stamford and to his theatrical roots by joining his colleague Albert J. Pia, then, the Artistic Director/Producer of The Sterling Barn Theater Complex (now Curtain Call) at the Kweskin Theater.

It was at The Sterling Barn Theater, over many years of stage productions, and as a senior thespian and mentor, that Macari would repeatedly tell the story of his return to Stamford in the 1970’s, to see his dying oldest brother. Macari detailed how, one evening prior to his brother’s imminent passing, he gave his siblings and their families a large box of Charlotte Russe pastries. Macari recalled for his siblings how, when he was a little boy, he was in the Italian Grocery Store with his mother, and he wanted this new Charlotte Russe pastry, but his mother refused to do so; she felt that, to be fair, she would need to buy one Charlotte Russe for each of her children, and not just for him only. Mother Macari also did not have enough money to do so.

The kindly Store Owner took pity on Charlie Macari's tears and gave him a damaged Charlotte Russe to eat. Mother Macari then brought Charlie to a back-alley next to the store, and hid him behind a fence and out of sight. There, Charlie Macari ate the sweet whipped cream delicacy as his mother ‘stood guard,’ just in case her other children were walking home from school. Thirty years later, Charles Macari brought each of his siblings a Charlotte Russe to make-up for the ones that his mother could not afford way back when, in order to: “get this guilt out of my heart once and for all.

Petrilli penned the screenplay for “Charlie Roo” in 1998, which also includes a sub-plot about two brothers' long standing feud, and previously attempted to film it via Al’dente Productions. Back then, the script was set in the 1960’a with the grocery store flashback scene set in the 1930’s (with all of the grocery store scene dialogue spoken in Italian with subtitles) but the project remained unfinished. The script was recently adjusted to reflect the 2000's/1960’s and the flashback sequence is spoken primarily in American language.

In “Charlie Roo,” the fictitious Corelli family is from Southern Italy (in all likelihood, the Naples area) but a customer in the grocery store is Signora Rossi, a character from Northern Italy (in all likelihood, the area near Milan) played by Olivia Lapine, and with her daughter, Clara Rossi, played by Mavis Nemser. It is actor Lapine (who is also fluent in Arabic) that spoke most of the Italian in the film, but with a strident Northern Italian dialect. The kind grocery store owner, Mr. Socci, is played by Anthony Socci (the last name is coincidental) and his young son, Toto Socci, is played by Lucas Cosgrave.

Derelict Films, in association with Belair Productions, last garnered forty-nine film festival awards for it's short-film, "Within and Without" (2020) which is another family drama, similar to an "After School Special," and is about two teen-aged daughters, with their father, struggling with the grief from the tragic death of their mother. "Within and Without" aired on the AMC Network.

The director of photography for “Charlie Roo” is Jason Wright Chester and the line producer is Vincent Kulish; both are co-partners with Petrilli in Derelict films. Also on the production staff are production coordinator Nancy Sciglimpaglia, UPM Raf Rosado, and production technician Francesca Babala-Money. The composer of original music for “Charlie Roo” is Tyler LeVander with costumes by Nancy Louth. The film editor is Peter Gould of the Intervale Group in Shelton.

The owner of A&S Fine Italian Foods of Stamford, Jose Carcamo, along with his son Edwin Carcomo, were very pleased to host the actors and crew of "Charlie Roo" on a Sunday afternoon; everyone ate well, too.