Talking Sopranos Live Tour

I was a 19-year-old journalism student when The Sopranos was first shown on Channel 4. Back when I could sit and watch TV with no distractions. I loved it. While so many other teenagers I grew up with loved their hip hop and Boyz ‘n’ the Hood gangsters, I was always a doo wop, slick back goodfella. I knew more about the Italian American mafia than any of my school subjects. I wanted to be a made guy in a cinematic version of a crime family where murdering, smuggling and hijacking would not land me in prison.

A New Jersey mafia boss goes to a therapist to manage his panic attacks. If one family doesn’t kill him, the other will. A basic premise that any TV writer could have developed. Once you watch it you realise you are watching art on the small screen. Tony Soprano, Carmela Soprano, Chris Moltisanti, Paulie Walnuts, Silvio Dante, Uncle Junior, Adriana La Cerva, Dr Melfi, Ralph Cifaretto, Tony Blundetto and so many more great characters. It was an extension of my gangster fantasy and escapism from the real-world pressures of living away from home and adolescence.

The fact that only a few people were watching it made it even more special. I was there from the start, an original Sopranos gangster. I bought the box set DVDs from HMV and spoke about it all the time. My alter ego making his bones on the street. I watched every season multiple times and was overjoyed when friends watched it too. I was no longer alone but eventually it was time to let it go. Did Tony die at the end? As the show pays homage to the lore of film and television, I expect it wanted to nod at the adage crimes doesn’t pay.

I expect Tony would have preferred death over 30 years in prison. While I left the mafia many years ago, I will never forget the show. Slowly but surely it pulled me back in. I listened to the Talking Sopranos podcast with Michael Imperioli and Steve Schirripa from the show talking about every episode with cast members and special guests offering their experiences and insights. I remember David Proval who played the menacing Richie Aprille say he used his anger and rage at the entertainment industry to create his character.

On Monday 2 March 2026 I attended the London Palladium with two friends for the live tour of Talking Sopranos. I was reminded the show was a lifeline for many of the actors who were struggling to make ends meet before this epic gangster drama changed their lives forever. No more sleeping on sofas, bankruptcy and depending on bowls of pasta from an Italian restaurant you live above.

It was packed with people of all ages which proves this much heralded drama from the golden age of television has stood the test of time. You were not allowed to film, photograph or record the show. Like being back in ’99, you had to sit there and watch the entertainment in front of you.

While the Talking Sopranos podcast dissects the episodes and is like being in the actors studio, the live show has Michael Imperioli and Steve Schirripa talking about how they became actors, their auditions for the show, inspirations for their characters and comedy and treasured moments across the six seasons. I already knew some of their stories but it was good to hear them again and learn more about James Gandolfini, the creator David Chase and the relationship between the writers and actors.

It made me realise that even being in arguable the greatest show of all time is still just a job. They showed clips from the show which put a smile on my face. So many good one-liners. The live show concluded with 20 questions from the audience which saw a rapid decline in entertainment value. If you should never meet your heroes, your heroes should think twice about meeting their fans or at least vet their questions.

The first question was from someone dressed as Chris Moltisanti in a neck brace after he survived a mock execution by Russian gangsters. I wondered if he did a number two in his pants to fully immerse himself in the role. Even if he did, he would have been more in touch with the real world than some of the fans who really need to talk to a therapist. Ideally one who does not look like Dr Melfi.

Some of the fans just wanted to recite their favourite lines and scenes, hoping the two actors remembered the scenes as well as they did. There were obvious questions about characters being killed and which deaths upset them the most. Surreal questions, confusing questions about self-awareness and a strange question about their favourite moment in the final scene. “Tony eating onion rings” was Steve’s response while Michael spoke about the tension as the episode drew to a close.

The final question was who the best poker player on the show was. Hello? Robert Iler who played A.J. Soprano moved to to Las Vegas to play poker professionally. Was I the only fan who knew that? I should have been given the microphone to ask 20 questions.

I am glad I pulled myself out of my mafia fantasy and it might be time the gangster genre goes the way of the western and disappears for a few years until a show comes along that makes you care again. The Sopranos made it clear that Tony Soprano was a guy you like who can do good things but he was also a bad guy who did bad things and not even therapy and his mother can justify everything he did.

The Guardian’s film review of Gangster No 1 back in 2000 included this brilliant paragraph: Even people who profess to be gangster cognoscenti are sometimes vague about what real gangsters actually do on a day-by-day, hour-by-hour basis to get their money. (In his Adventures In The Screen Trade, William Goldman famously denounced "cute Mafia chieftains" in supposedly realistic dramas like The Godfather: "Try asking a major star to play a real Mafia head, a man who makes his living off whores and child pornography, heroin and blood.")