The other James Gandolfini

NY Times photo of Mr. Gandolfini from Google

I was really shocked to hear that James Gandolfini died yesterday.  He was so young!  Only a year older than my sister.  I know that The Sopranos was probably the apex of his career and it would be hard to top his success with some other role but I really think he had years of good work ahead of him.  Add to that the fact that he had a child less than a year old and it's just sad, sad news.

I enjoyed watching The Sopranos but I was always years off of the episodes that were airing because I didn't subscribe to HBO.  Thank goodness for Netflix and re-runs.  There aren't a lot of Italians in SW Virginia but many, many on Long Island so I was always curious about the show.  I loved Gandolfini's portrayal of a man who wanted more and could be base and charming in the same episode.  I'm sure some of that magic from the writing but who could be a better mob boss than Mr. Gandolfini was on camera?  I can't think of anyone who could pull it off as well, really.

Right before I moved to Virginia, I wanted to treat myself to a Broadway play or musical - just to go see by myself as a treat.  A gift to me.  I chose God of Carnage and that was my favorite Broadway performance I have ever seen, hands down.  Luckily, the show I saw had the original B'way cast which included James Gandolfini.  He was the good guy - the one of the four main characters that you were rooting for the most.  Starting out polite and shy and ramping up over the course of the show.  He was FANTASTIC!  I loved that he was the opposite of a mob boss and wasn't typecast at all.  The other James Gandolfini.  What a loss.