Italian Market Spread Fit For A South Philly Queen, Lisa Ann Walter
Yo! Youse watch “Abbott Elementary”?
The Preston and Steve Show welcomed Lisa Ann Walter. The actress who plays second grade teacher ‘Melissa Schemmenti’ in the fictional Philly school into the studio. Her character swears by tough love and stops at nothing to ensure her students’ well-being.
The Emmy nominated show released its season two finale in April. Considering her character’s palpable South Philly spirit, accent and all, we felt it was more than appropriate to surprise Lisa Ann with a huge assortment of cannoli, cakes and cookies from Isgro Pastries and charcuterie from Di Bruno Bros.
These businesses have two wonderful things in common: humble Italian immigrant beginnings and delicious snacks. Isgro was established in 1904 when Mario Isgro left Sicily to share his baking skills with America. His grandson Gus Sarno and his wife Lucille have kept the business alive since 1969. In 1939, Danny and Joe Di Bruno, with the little education and money they had, took a risk and opened a grocery store together. Decades later, DiBruno’s has evolved into one of the most well known brands in Philadelphia.
It’s cool, she’s one of us.
When it comes to that Philadelphia grit, Lisa Ann has proven to have plenty of it (despite growing up down in DC!). With her performance as Melissa, she continues to shine that spotlight on underfunded school teachers who dedicate their lives to their students through all the challenges.
More recently, Lisa Ann’s “passion” (aka Philly grit) has been shown through her contributions to the SAG-AFTRA strike, happening in solidarity with the WGA. The actress was protesting in Love Park yesterday with “Abbott” co-star Sheryl Lee Ralph and fellow Philly based union members. Lisa Ann shared her own story about raising a family on her own while making a measly Hollywood salary. Lisa Ann’s information about the labor movement was very insightful and worth a listen in the interview below.
Plus the conversation is loaded with laughs and a surprise phone call from the Mayor of Mayfair who picked up the title after his hilarious interview about the I95 collapse.
Lisa Ann is in town to perform at Helium Comedy Club this weekend. All of her shows are sold out. So, since we can’t send people to the club, we’ll wrap this up by saying one last thing to our new favorite Pisan: leave the headphones, take the cannoli.
Lisa Ann Walter stops by Preston & Steve:
