Calamari Sisters whip up food with a smile and a song Delphone and Carmela Calamari whip up food with a smile and a song

NEWTON — What do you get when you mix pasta, old world rivalries and two very funny girls? You get the Calamari Sisters.

Hilarity, failed dishes and food fights are sure to ensue when the larger-than-life sisters, Delphine and Carmela Calamari from Bay Ridge, Brooklyn bring their musical cooking show to Newton Theatre for six dates on June 21 to 23 and 28 to 30. And the sisters say they are looking forward to meeting a new audience.

“This really is us coming to Newton to give a musical cooking lesson," Carmela said. "We’ve never been to Newton before.”

The sisters grew up performing together with appearances in their high school shows at “The Lady of the Divine Pain.” Both sisters say they love to cook and they speak adoringly of the venerable Grandma Minestrone who taught them everything they know.

Carmela explains that when you live in an Italian family, all of the recipes get handed down from generation to generation through the matriarchs of the family. And as for the recipes they will be sharing, Delphine says, “Pasta, cannolis, sausages peppers, pasta and more pasta.”

Food is such a big part of growing up Italian, and both sisters are quick to chime in on their favorite subject.

Delphine says, “you’re never hungry.” Carmela adds, “even when you’re not hungry, they’re going to feed you anyway.”

Delphine is the older, meat loving sister. According to a press release of the show, by the age of seven, she was known as “that Italian girl that can tell you which butcher a sausage comes from with her eyes closed.”

Her meatballs are sought after by superstitious brides. According to Bay Ridge legend, if you don’t serve Delphine’s meatballs at your wedding reception, your marriage will be doomed to fail and you will never produce a male to carry on the family name.

Carmela’s illustrious career took a decidedly less conventional turn than her older sister as she worked her way from serving lemonade with a kiss to wooing beauty pageant judges with her minestrone soup. Eventually, she joined her sister and grandmother in the catering business where she became known as the fastest cake-froster in Brooklyn.

After Delphine and Carmela founded their Calamari Sisters Catering Company, they brought their cooking to a whole new level of creativity, becoming well known for their song and dance and cooking routines. The girls will be singing up a storm at Newton Theatre with favorites like “Come On A House,” “That’s Amore,” and “Mambo Italiano."

The two sisters say they get along wonderfully both on and off the stage.

“Oh yes, we get a long like you wouldn’t believe," Delphine says.

“There’s a lot of shouting and name calling, but everyone gets along. We’re all family,” Carmela says. And audience participation is essential to the show. “It’s essential,” Carmela says.

But for the unwilling performer, never fear.

“We try to set them at ease,” Delphine said. Or do they?

“When you see us coming after you, you’re going to be shaking in your boots,” Carmela jokes.

There’s no plot to the show, but the sisters do love to share stories about their family — such as the one about their Aunt Rosa who recently won the lottery. Delphine says it begins with Rosa buying a lottery tickets and she comes home and asks her husband, Uncle Frank, what he would do if she won. He says he would take half and leave.

So Aunt Rosa says, “Excellent, I won 12-dollars. Now get the hell out!” Carmela erupts in laughter as she delivers the punch line of the story. The two sisters agree it ruined Christmas that year, but it was funny.

The sisters love to joke. Carmela says her favorite jokes are the dirty ones, but Delphine says they like all kinds of jokes. They do shy away from politics though.

“We’re there to cook, not tell you how to vote,” Carmela said.

“We’re certainly not there to make Obama pancakes,” Delphine quips. “I just hope they come and laugh and for 90 minutes, we just take them away from their problems.”

Carmela agrees. “Cooking is therapeutic,” she explains and anyone who comes to show can expect to just sit back and “be with the cook, become part of the family and have a great time."