Audition hopefuls wait by phones

Cono Corvino hopes his phone will ring.
The 45-year-old from Greenpoint, Brooklyn, who on Saturday, May 17 auditioned for a new concept in television titled “Bad Boys of Brooklyn,” was asked if he was available in the coming days, and is hoping for a call back.
Corvino said his friend advised him to travel to the S.T.A.R.S. Center in Howard Beach for the auditions after reading about them in The Courier.
“She said for me to be myself,” said Corvino. “I wasn’t nervous. Once I started talking, I forgot about the cameras. I made them laugh.”
Harry Baldelli from Flushing also showed up to try out.
Looking artistic with his woolen black cap, he said, “I’ll give anything a shot.”
Baldelli, who builds and repairs machines for a living, auditioned for the show because he can do all sorts of funny things such as imitating different accents — from Indian to Russian.
And because he loves cooking, of course.
“I screw up Jello, but I can make a wicked sauce,” he said to the interviewers. Then he told them how he makes chicken cutlets. The explanation came in a heavy Italian accent.
Being able to imitate this accent, cook well and exude charm were the requirements the guys had to meet.
Overall, 19 candidates showed up for the auditions.
“Everybody has been so positive and very sweet — just a couple of people were far off,” said Victoria Pellegrino of Pellegrino and Associates, who along with Triple Threat TV will be producing a “sizzle reel.”
“We’re developing this show with Pellegrino and Associates to pitch to television networks here in New York,” explained Amy Maguire, VP of Development with Triple Threat. “Right now we’re putting together a ‘sizzle reel,’ which is what you present at a pitch meeting. From there, a pilot is made if it’s picked up.”
If the show is, in fact, picked up by a network, it will feature four guys who get together to prepare fresh Italian foods such as mozzarella, sausage and canned olives.
“The idea is to revive the dying Italian tradition of cooking from scratch while having fun, said Pellegrino.
Shooting for the show is expected to start in about two weeks, Pellegrino said.