Romantic comedy ‘That’s Amore’ features filming locations in Plum and Murrysville
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Actor, retired dentist and Plum resident David Petti sticks to what he knows.
So when Petti was working on the screenplay for “That’s Amore” – which will be shown June 23 at the Oaks Theater in Oakmont – he didn’t stray far from his roots.
“My character is a dentist,” he said with a laugh. “I was working on the screenplay while I was still doing dentistry.”
Petti, who has also worked as a professional actor in the Pittsburgh area since the 1990s, said he and co-writers Joe Puglisi and Sheila Cavalette “wanted to do a movie that was really family-friendly and a lot of fun.”
“That’s Amore” stars comedian and Pennsylvania resident Tammy Pescatelli, as Lucia Lombardi, a middle-aged nurse living with her mother Rosa. The romantic comedy centers on a deal between mother and daughter, where Lucia agrees to get married so that Rosa will agree to have a needed operation.
Fans of “Mister Rogers Neighborhood” will recognize Rosa as actor Barbara Russell, who appeared on the children’s show in the very first episode as the eccentric Mrs. Russellite, as well as the voice of puppet Hilda Dingleboarder.
Principal photography took place for a little more than two weeks in July 2018, in Western Pennsylvania locations including Plum, Sewickley, Ellwood City and Pasqualino’s restaurant in Murrysville.
“Pasqualino’s was sort of featured as the main restaurant in the film,” Petti said.
For Lower Burrell native Dan Helbling, “That’s Amore” will be his first feature-length film in the director’s chair.
“I was really drawn to the heavy Italian-family aspect of the script,” said Helbling, 28, of Penn Hills. “My mom’s side of the family is all Italian, and the family they created in the script was so similar to the family I had. I saw so much of my own grandma in the character of Rosa.”
Helbling told the film’s producers that he understood the story, the importance of family, and got the job.
“We were working on a lower-end indie-film budget,” he said. “That’s difficult, but we had a great crew who picked up in areas where we’d otherwise be lacking.”
Petti said he had great experiences working with students from Point Park University’s cinema program, which provided state-of-the-art equipment for the 18-day film shoot.
“Seeing the talent that’s coming out of Point Park is pretty incredible,” said Helbling, who is himself a product of the program. “Our director of photography, Ralph DiLullo, has such a good eye.”
The film’s upcoming run at The Oaks Theater will be a sort of “re-premiere” – “That’s Amore” was originally screened in February 2020 at The Strand in Zelienople, just before the world shut down during the early months of the covid-19 pandemic.
“I just want more people to see it,” Helbling said. “We’d love to get more eyes on it and get it the run it should have had two-and-half years ago.”
“That’s Amore” will be shown at 7:30 p.m. June 23 and 26 at The Oaks, 310 Allegheny River Boulevard in Oakmont.
For more, or to purchase tickets, see TheOaksTheater.com.