Feast of San Gennaro: Hollywood Comes Out to Honor the Troops

This past Thursday night, I attended the Prima Notte Gala at the Los Angeles Feast of San Gennaro in Hollywood, hosted by Jimmy Kimmel and Adam Carolla. This was a fundraising event and auction held to pay tribute to the US Military and recognize the outstanding efforts that Italian-Americans have made to serve America during times of war and to support the San Gennaro Foundation.

Jimmy Kimmel, producer Douglas DeLuca and some of Los Angeles’ most prominent Italian-American citizens created The San Gennaro Foundation to benefit underprivileged children and the homeless in Los Angeles.

Master of Ceremonies, Mark DeCarlo, hosted the evening’s celebration that featured performances by Pete Jacobs’ Wartime Radio Review, an old-fashioned USO show, complete with a swinging band. Actors Connie Stevens and Robert Davi were recognized for their charitable work, especially their work with our military.

I arrived early and was able to sample much of the food that’s available at the Feast. I had purposely skipped dinner so I was ready to dive in. I stopped by a booth run by “Nonna” (Italian for “grandma”) and she gave me a sample of some biscotti that was out of this world. When I came back for seconds, she shooed me away with a wink while surreptitiously slipping some more biscotti into my hand. If you get a chance, look up Frankie’s Old World Biscotti. You won’t regret it. Another standout was Pagano’s Seafood. Don’t pass their booth without buying something.

More people were arriving every minute and I began to recognize some faces. Joe Mantegna, John Krasinski, David Arquette and Robert Picardo were just a few that I instantly recognized. The working class Italian actors were out in force. You know, guys that you’ve seen a million times but might not know their name. It felt like I was walking through a Scorsese movie.

One of the highlights of the evening, for me, was that I got to meet composer Bill Conti and tell him that his Rocky II soundtrack helped get me through boot camp. Every time they’d take us out to run, I’d start playing that music in my head. I’m sure he’s heard it hundreds of times before but Bill took it in stride. A nice man.

I also bumped into actor Ed Marinaro and his lovely wife and stopped to chat. I’d met Ed once or twice before and after the “Joe Cervasio” round of “Six Degrees of Angelo Commandatore,” we became fast friends.

FYI, “fast friends” at the intersection of Hollywood and Jersey goes something like this:

“Hey! How you doin’?”

“Hey! Good! How’re you?”

“Good! Yeah! The last time I saw you was at the thing!”

“Yeah… Wait. Which thing?”

“The thing! That thing with the guy!”

“Oh, yeah! How you doin’?”

We talked a bit about the evening and about our military. Ed said he felt proud that such a big event in the Italian-American community was recognizing and honoring what they do; not only Italian-Americans but all Americans that serve in our Armed Forces. He went on to say that “they should all be here to enjoy themselves and sample the food” and that if they weren’t Italian now, “they’d convert.”

Soon, Jimmy Kimmel and Adam Carolla introduced Robert Davi. Robert spoke about his Sicilian grandfather who came to America, enlisted in the infantry and received two Purple Hearts for wounds received during World War I. “The American flag was always revered and the American serviceman was always revered. That’s the image I grew up with and my father grew up with.”

Robert went on to tell about his father who enlisted in the Navy after the bombing of Pearl Harbor and once spent three days in the water after his ship had been torpedoed. He said that, although his father never spoke about his wartime experiences, “every 4th of July, every Veteran’s Day, every Memorial Day, my dad raised the American flag in our back yard and put on his Navy uniform until the day he died at fifty-six years old. That’s the image… that’s the respect and the love for this country that I got as an Italian-American.”

Next, Jimmy and Adam introduced the lovely Connie Stevens. She was happy to substantiate her Italian credentials by sharing her real name, Concetta Rosalie Ann Ingolia. “You all think Connie Francis is the Italian girl? It’s me!” she joked. “And I make better sauce than she does.” Okay, that part probably wasn’t a joke. One of the many things I’ve learned from my wife is that Italian girls do not joke about sauce.

After some playful flirting with Jimmy Kimmel, Connie talked about her dedication to the American military. “As long as I’m alive, I’m going to do it.” She has been entertaining the troops for more than forty years. “I have held young men’s hands in the deepest parts of the jungles, in hospitals all over the world and on every major base. They are America’s greatest assets and we’ve got to let them know that we have their backs. Every time you get a chance, stop somebody at an airport and say, ‘Thank you’. Give them a hundred bucks if you can afford it.”

Finally, Pete Jacobs’ Wartime Radio Review took the stage and tore into “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy”. That really lit up the WWII vets in attendance. At that point, it was getting late. I decided to take my leave, full of great food and thinking of Uncle Pete Cavo.