Cooking with the Calamari Sisters is a Recipe for Non-Stop Laughter
By Holly Harmon -
Thursday Jan 04, 2024
“Cooking with the Calamari Sisters” makes its Phoenix debut during a limited engagement at Herberger Theater Center through January 28. Two over-the-top, larger-than-life Italian sisters from Brooklyn take audiences on a tour-de-force of show tunes, dancing, saucy humor, and of course cooking as they star in their very own fictional cable television show, “Mangia Italiano.”
A live performance unlike any other, “Cooking with the Calamari Sisters” features a hefty serving of song and dance, failed dishes and sibling rivalry as show hosts, Delphine and Carmela Calamari try to make it through their final broadcast in one piece. Botched Italian cooking, food fights, off-color jokes, and ad lib banter with audience members are just a few of the ingredients that keep the laughter going until curtain call. The sisters also sing and dance their way through outrageous musical numbers to such beloved Italian favorites as “Volare,” “Come on a My House,” “Botcha Me,” “Que Sera Sera,” “That’s Amore,” and of course, “Mambo Italiano!”
According to Delphine, "The show centers around my sister, Carmela, and her last broadcast on the show since she's off to Boca Raton to conquer the cabaret condominium circuit.”
Presented by Playhouse Productions, the show has been engaging audiences throughout the U.S. since 2009, and it has been hailed by critics as “wicked naughty humor” and “laugh out loud funny.” While Phoenicians got a taste of the Calamari Sisters hilarity in 2018 with “The Calamari Sisters’ Clam Bake,” this is the Valley of the Sun debut for “Cooking with the Calamari Sisters.” The production was created by Jay Falzone, Daniel Lavender and Stephen Smith.
“Cooking with the Calamari Sisters” is presented through January 28. Performances are on Thursdays at 2 and 7:30 p.m., Fridays at 8 p.m., Saturdays at 2 and 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. The Herberger Theater Center is located at 222 E. Monroe St., Phoenix, Ariz., 85004.
Tickets range from $45 to $65 and are available at the Herberger Theater Box Office. For tickets, call 602-252-8497, or visit http://www.herbergertheater.org.