The interior of Wish 28, owned by twin sisters — and itself the twin of a boutique called Wish in Morris County. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
In this Retail Churn: The latest addition to the Red Bank shopping scene is a women’s clothing and accessories store owned by two women with mob ties.
The fictional mob, that is.
The Befumo twins in the wedding scene of “The Godfather.” (Scene from ‘The Godfather.” Click to enlarge)
Identical-twin sisters Virginia Falkinburg, of Wall Township, and Theresa Pennisi, who recently opened Wish 28 at 28 Monmouth Street, were eight years old when they scored some screen time as extras in Francis Ford Coppola’s 1972 masterpiece, “The Godfather.”
Then known as Virginia and Theresa Befumo, the girls were chosen to appear wearing pink dresses in the film’s famous wedding scene as Don Vito Corleone’s granddaughters, Falkinburg told Churn.
“Our mom’s friend saw an ad for an audition for twins,” she said. The girls auditioned, and several months later were summoned to the location shoot in Staten Island, where they were cast as Sonny Corleone’s twin daughters.
In another scene, said Falkinburg, Coppola told her to say to Don Corleone, played by Marlon Brando, what she would say to her own grandfather on seeing him from his return home from a hospital. (Corleone was recovering from an attempted hit).
“I said, ‘I love you grandpa,'” Falkinburg recalled. “Because I said that, we’re in the Screen Actors Guild.”
With Wish 28, the sisters are joined together in work once again. Their boutique, which they own together, is a twin of a Wish, which Pennisi owns in Denville, in Morris County, where she lives.
They chose Red Bank, Falkinburg said, because it’s “kind of centrally located” between the two shops and because Red Bank “is a cute little town.”
The shop carries clothing, jewelry and accessories for a wide age range. It takes over space last occupied by Candy’s Cottage.
