Copyright Staten Island Advance
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — There’s only one more show left until Johnny P. hangs up his hat and bids farewell to his Late Night/Up Late show that’s been running on Community Media of Staten Island Television — formerly CTV — since 2008. Look for the show’s finale on Tuesday Nov. 18 set to feature New Jersey rock group, “The Gab Cinque Band.” Also fitting the bill is Sandy Blue Eyes, longtime friend of Chazz Palminteri. The production also introduces the cast of Johnny P’s new podcast, Lou Martini Jr, Concetta Rose, and Garry Pastore. A LITTLE ABOUT POTENZA AND HIS NEW ENDEAVOR As host, producer and editor of his show since 2008, Potenza developed the former “Late Night with Johnny P” and more recently “Up Late with Johnny Potenza” and continued to tape new shows. “I felt in my heart it was time to call it a day with the show,” said Potenza. ”I had to get off and exit onto a new road of production in the entertainment world. Unfortunately public access and cable TV has changed the last 10 years. Most people are streaming these days and we are in a new world of technology." Potenza went on to explain, it’s a bitter sweet move, inasmuch as he’s been a public access producer since the spring of 1997. “I met a lot of great people there and I’ve seen a lot of changes throughout the years,” he said. “My first show I produced was ‘The Gangsters of Rock’ and that ran from 1997 to 2004. Then in 2008 I started ‘Late Night with Johnny P., etc. This past year I’ve been working on a tell all documentary titled ‘From Late Night to Up Late.’ It’s a behind the scenes look at the making of a public access late night entertainment variety show. It’s my story from A to Z on the in’s and out’s of the business and everything it took to produce a show yearly. It’s going to be something special once it’s done. I have a some real good people in the industry working on it with me.” Potenza says a release date hasn’t been determined as of yet. “We are taking our time with this project. It’s a labor of love. Future plans are to get into the indie film festivals and on Amazon Prime. I want the public to know it’s not all fun and games doing a show. There’s a lot of stress and work that goes into it. I had a blast while it lasted.” During the fall of last year, Potenza was approached by Tony Hanson, owner of Fenix Studios on Staten Island, who also owns a pro independent podcast company. Guest actress, author Emily Dinova said she knew a great and funny actress by the name of Concetta Rose. “I emailed Concetta,” he added. “We talked and she was interested. So we auditioned her as a guest spot on the podcast. By the end of the show I knew we had our gal. As time went on we added another alternate co-host who is no stranger to the entertainment business actor, writer, author, and award winner, Garry Pastore.” Season 2 is already taping. It’s official: Lou Martini Jr, Concetta Rose and Garry Pastore are all cast members of the podcast.
