If you loved The Sopranos and still miss Tony and the gang, the Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria, Queens, is hosting a special exhibit called Stories and Set Designs for The Sopranos, now through May 31.
Drawing from showrunner and series creator David Chase’s personal archive, the exhibit displays scripts, notes and research materials from the show, documenting the story arcs of the series as well as the development of the characters and their trajectories.
Photo: Thanassi Karageorgiou/Courtesy of the Museum of the Moving Image
The Sopranos, a crime drama TV series that starred New Jersey’s own James Gandolfini as Tony Soprano, was set in North Jersey and filmed at locations around the state as well as on studio sets. (Those locations were a key component of the iconic HBO series, helping create the show’s New Jersey backdrop as Tony navigated the worlds of the Mafia and Jersey suburbia.)
The exhibit also examines the design of the four principal sites where the series’ central action unfolds: Dr. Melfi’s office, the Sopranos’ home (the exterior of which is in North Caldwell), the Bada Bing strip club (Satin Dolls in Lodi) and Satriale’s Pork Store (transformed from an unoccupied shop in Kearny). These settings were created through a mix of on-location filming in New Jersey and constructed sets at Silvercup Studios in Queens. Also on display in the exhibit are concept art and design drawings that show how the look and layout of each set were created, and how the series’ narrative and visual worlds were established.
Photo: Courtesy of the Museum of the Moving Image/Thanassi Karageorgiou
The Sopranos is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential TV series of all time. It ran from 1999 to 2007 and reshaped American television, setting a new standard for long-form storytelling and character-driven drama.
Nearly 20 years after The Sopranos went off the air, fans still flock to the Soprano house in North Caldwell and drop by Holsten’s in Bloomfield to see where James Gandolfini, Edie Falco, Jamie-Lynn Sigler and Robert Iler filmed the show’s infamous final scene.
The infamous final Sopranos scene, filmed at Holsten’s in Bloomfield. Photo: Courtesy of HBO
Chase, who grew up in Clifton and North Caldwell, has said the series was partly inspired by a New Jersey organized crime family that was prominent when he was growing up.
For more info, visit the museum’s website.
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