{"id":133,"date":"2008-02-27T17:55:44","date_gmt":"2008-02-27T17:55:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tonynapoli.com\/?p=133"},"modified":"2014-08-13T12:08:47","modified_gmt":"2014-08-13T16:08:47","slug":"the-best-of-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tonynapoli.com\/index.php\/2008\/02\/27\/the-best-of-times\/","title":{"rendered":"“The Best of Times” – 2008"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Best of Times\u201d occurred at a fantastic party on Sunday February 17, 2008 as Gary and I celebrated our 25th anniversary. Sixty of our dearest friends and family trekked to the Bronx for a gala afternoon.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The guests gathered at Trattoria Zero Otto Nove on Arthur Avenue for home made Pizza Margarita baked in an authentic brick pizza oven by a pizzaiolo direct from Naples. All this was washed down by a very special red sparkling wine called Gragnano from Salenero.\u00a0 Forty-five minutes into cocktails, a eight-piece band from the Feast of the Giglio in Brooklyn marched into the restaurant and invited the group to parade down Arthur Avenue to Roberto\u2019s Restaurant for dinner.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

CLICK HERE FOR A VIDEO CLIP <\/a><\/p>\n

What a sight this was! An Italian street band leading our family and friends laded down with gifts laughing and clapping in a festive mood all the way around the corner. Pedestrians gawked, patrons stuck their heads out of various ristorante, and cars honked their horns as we strolled down the mean streets of Belmont. My cousin, an avid movie buff, commented that it reminded him of the Sicilian wedding scene from \u201cThe Godfather.\u201d He guessed one of my inspirations; the other was the final scene from Fellini\u2019s \u201c8 \u00bd.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Roberto\u2019s, one of the best restaurants in New York City, was the scene for nine-course Sunday supper and very special presentation. My second inspiration for this part of the evening was the Broadway Revues of the 1950\u2019s that commented on the social scene of the day.\u00a0 Gary and I welcomed our intimate gathering explaining that the evening program of music of Broadway Show Tunes would reflect aspects of our relationship and comment on our lives together for the past twenty-five years.\u00a0 The surprise hit of the evening was our opening rendition wish custom lyrics of I Remember It Well<\/em> from the movie, \u201cGigi.\u201d There was not a dry eye in the house.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

CLICK HERE FOR A VIDEO CLIP <\/a><\/p>\n

Four song segments punctuated the many course Italian dinner of hot\/cold appetizers, two pastas, risotto, veal and lamb, and desserts. Three Broadway performers sang music by the great composers of Broadway: e.g. Rodger\u2019s Some Enchanted Evening<\/em>; Styne\u2019s Just<\/em> in Time<\/em>; Porter\u2019s Always True to You Darlin’ in My Fashion<\/em>; Gershwin\u2019s They All Laughed<\/em> and Kern’s Don’t Ever Leave Me..<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The finale ended in a toast to us with a sing-along to the Jerry Herman tune, The Best of Times<\/em> from \u201cLa Cage aux Folles\u201d. This erupted into dancing to the Disco Classics from the 1970\u2019s.\u00a0 Prosecco and Limoncello and \u201cLa Comedia e finita\u201d.\u00a0 All of our guests received a CD of the Show Tunes perfomed along with traditional Italian Wedding “Confetti.”<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The warmth and love from our family and friends still fills our hearts.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Gary:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 We met at nine<\/p>\n

Tony:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 We met at eight<\/p>\n

Gary: \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I was on time<\/p>\n

Tony:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 No, you were late<\/p>\n

Gary: \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ah, yes, I remember it well<\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 You cruised me dear<\/p>\n

Tony: \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 No you cruised me<\/p>\n

Gary: \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I sat alone<\/p>\n

Tony: \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 You sat next to me<\/p>\n

Gary: \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ah, yes, I remember it well<\/p>\n

That dazzling April moon!<\/p>\n

Tony:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 There was none that night<\/p>\n

And the month was June<\/p>\n

Gary: \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 That’s right. That’s right.<\/p>\n

Tony:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It warms my heart to know that you<\/p>\n

Remember still the way you do<\/p>\n

Gary: \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ah, yes, I remember it well<\/p>\n

How often I’ve thought of that Friday-<\/p>\n

Tony:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Monday<\/p>\n

Gary: \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Night when we had our first rendezvous<\/p>\n

And somehow I foolishly wondered if you might<\/p>\n

By some chance be thinking of it too?<\/p>\n

That taxi ride<\/p>\n

Tony:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I walked you home<\/p>\n

Gary:\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 We went upstairs<\/p>\n

Tony:\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 No, you sent me home<\/p>\n

Gary: \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ah, yes, I remember it well<\/p>\n

We had some rain<\/p>\n

Tony:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 No, it was fair<\/p>\n

Gary: \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Those Donna Summer songs!<\/p>\n

Tony:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Sung by Cher?<\/p>\n

Gary:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ah, yes I remember it well.<\/p>\n

You wore Jeans of Levi blue<\/p>\n

Tony:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Chino\u2019s LL Bean<\/p>\n

Gary: \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Am I getting old?<\/p>\n

Tony:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Oh, no, not you<\/p>\n

How cute you were<\/p>\n

How young and gay<\/p>\n

A disco queen<\/p>\n

In every way<\/p>\n

Gary:\u00a0\u00a0 Ah, yes, I remember it well.<\/p>\n

Both:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ah, yes, we remember it well<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cThe Best of Times\u201d occurred at a fantastic party on Sunday February 17, 2008 as Gary and I celebrated our 25th anniversary. Sixty of our dearest friends and family trekked to the Bronx for a gala afternoon. The guests gathered … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-133","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-manhattan"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tonynapoli.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tonynapoli.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tonynapoli.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tonynapoli.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tonynapoli.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=133"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/tonynapoli.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":379,"href":"https:\/\/tonynapoli.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133\/revisions\/379"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tonynapoli.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=133"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tonynapoli.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=133"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tonynapoli.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=133"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}