Backstage Bite: Deep Fried Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs with Bobby Conte Thornton!

Hey there, I'm Katie the Oven Lynch

Because you know when you come at me, I bring all the heat. This is Backstage Bite here in the kitchen

You better watch the show today or else... we'll cool. We have the sweetest, most wonderful man in the kitchen with me today

Bobby Conte Thornton, who plays C, the lead. in a Bronx Tale

I can't wait to cook some delicious Italian food! Yay! This was my neighborhood

This is a Bronx Tale. Hanging with the crew on the steel

Uh, Bobby, what are you doing in there? I'm just looking for some food

Ice cream. Put it down. We have food to make. No. This looks amazing

This is Bobby Conte Thornton. How's it going? Guys, this is Bobby Conte Thornton

He plays C. Collodiero. Collodiero. This is easier for you. Fabulous! Done

And this is your Broadway debut. And you are the lead in the show

It's crazy. Do you remember getting the call? Yes. I got great advice from saying you should have something

far more important to do after an audition than just waiting by the phone for a call

So I got lunch with my sister right after. And so I went home and I watched tennis

And I fell asleep and I missed the call. I woke up to like two voices. was being like, pick up phone

I picked it up and we talked and they told me I was going to be on Broadway. Here we are

And now we're here about to make some food. What do you know about cooking? A little bit

I come from an Italian household that knows how to make some homemade lasagna and pasta

So I can work my way around. I met Bobby's mom backstage

I told her you were going to be on a cooking show. And she said, what

Bobby doesn't know how to cook? I made like a stir fry once for my mom and you could just see her sort of grin and bearing

it up too. But I like it. So that's all that matters. Love you mom

I love you mom. I love you mom. I really do. I think we should get started in the only way that every Italian should

With a glass of red wine. At 11.45 in the morning. Bring it on

Cheers to you. Thank you. Cheers to you. Thanks for having me here

Of course. We are making deep fried mozzarella stuffed meatballs. Please start by cracking two eggs into your bowl

Done with one hand? Yeah No I already screwed up Totally fine You going to do half a cup of Parmigiana cheese Parmesan cheese What are you doing

I'm not good because they're like chunks. It's not seamless. So all these mobsters have all these funny nicknames

So what would your mobster nickname be? All my life I've been called Boobert, Booby, Bobbert, Bobsticle, Bobalicious, Bobby Fortin

because I fart a lot. So there was a day I had Brussels sprouts before the show, and there was a moment in

the show where I'm in a car, and I have three people around me. It's the moment I have to sing highest in the show, and I could feel I had something

In order to hit this high note, I need to release, I need to breathe deeply, and I released

When I went off stage and my friends saw me afterwards, they were like, it was like swallowing

a mushroom flower. It was just unbearable. It's hysterical. We're getting personal

I love it. You're gonna season this little. Terrified, guys. Two pinches of salt

Two. Two. That was the smallest pinch of salt I've seen in my life

You want more? Pepper. How much? Just some Italian seasoning. I think that's good

I think that's good. I think that's good. Are you ready? Yeah

It's time to... MAKE DOWN! Good morning! Oh, okay, great. I understand why we did it now

Now it's time, just like in the mob, to get our hands dirty. Alright

You're going to do a pound of ground beef. Oh, the whole thing. Great

Throw them in. Done. Oh, let's go. Let's go. You have to get it all in line together

Now, you're gonna chop some cheese! Great. Cut the cheese! Cut the cheese

Tell me what it was like working with Robert De Niro and Chaz and like, what the heck

It's my heroes on every medium of entertainment. I always thought, you know, Jerry Zaks, who is Bob's co-director, is also like musical

theater comedy lore. Yes. And so, like, almost that would have been enough

But then you bring in Chaz and Bob from the Hollywood world

So it was working with All My Heroes in every regard. So when Bob De Niro gives you a note that is very much geared towards an immediacy and intimacy and spontaneity that you would find in film But then you have Jerry Zaks that says but now we need to present it in a way that a thousand people can take that in in a moment

We are actually going to be wrapping the meat around the cheese. Oh

Amazing! I know! Amazing! What do you do in between shows? Saturday between, Saturdays between shows, I play poker. Fun

It's so much fun. I'm currently the top of the leaderboard. It won't last very long because Richard Blake is a shark, but we're having so much fun

That sounds like that was the best in between shows. It's like so much fun

Okay, so now we are going to roll these in Hey Go! breadcrumbs because they're much crispier

What was your worst onstage blow? But this happened recently in Bronx town

Gun didn't go off in the first shooting. So he tried to shoot a couple times and nothing happened

We have an offstage stagehand who's shooting blanks as well as a backup and those didn't go off either

So Nick Cordero, like a champ, literally went over and did like a neck headlock and just like killed the guy

The police officer came in later, the line is, can you point out the guy who pulled the trigger

He changed it to, can you point out the guy who broke his neck? Only on Broadway, you just keep going

This recipe is a little like, uh, sure. We're going to do like about a cup of olive oil

What kind of music would you listen to when you're growing up? My mom always had a Nora Jones on when I was a kid

I'd wake up to come away with me. The other music I listened to was all Disney because I was a Disney sci-fi when I was a baby

What was your favorite Disney movie? I think my favorite Disney movie was Being the Beast

It was my first musical. My first musical I ever saw was Being the Beast, which is an Alamérica musical

And now my first Broadway showman is an Alamérica musical. Fall circle

So, now it's time to try these. Three, four, five! Turn it

Oh, look at that. Oh, yeah. Oh, my God. Look at this

This is the best decision ever. I know. I know. Do you have a memory of a great meal growing up

My grandmother raviolis are like desert island last meal Absolutely I eat like 20 out of like one sitting We need to make sure that they cooked all the way through So you are going to put them in the oven at 400 degrees for five minutes

While we do that, we are going to get to know you as fast as humanly possible

in a section I like to call Quick Fire Questions! Yeah! Fast, fast, fast! Ready, set, go

Tie or bow tie? Tie. What do you order at Chipotle? Chicken, black beans, brown rice, guacamole, red cheese, and medium salsa

Lucky number. Two. Morning person or night owl? Night owl. Mac or PC

Mac. Favorite subject in school? Math. Instagram or Twitter? Instagram. Mexican, Italian, or Chinese food

Italian. Fiction or non-fiction? Non-fiction. Mom and dad's name? Lisa and Bob

Backyard and rooftop access. Rooftop. What animal would you want to be

That Chipotle one was so stressful. It was so stressful. Seriously though, look at your meatballs

I'm very much in awe. They look so good. They look so good

And we get to dip them in marinara sauce. Cheers. That's amazing

They're so good! Unbelievable. Thank you. Thank you! One more. One more

Oh my god, really dumb. How do I follow you? I want to know. I want to follow you. How do I follow you

You can follow me at bcontithor on Instagram and Twitter. And don't forget to follow us at BackstageBite on every platform

This was just a blast! You're the best time. Thank you so much

Oh my gosh, thank you! Yay! You guys, seriously, you need to go see A Bronze Tale

Please, please. You need to go see Bobby Gonzaga-Barton as C. As C in A Bronze Tale

Longacre Theater on West 48th Street between Broadway and Yves Avenue. He's incredible

That's f***ing good. See you next time

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