Talk Bronx New York

I wondered why Chazz Palminteri’s “A Bronx Tale” was suddenly booked into the Venetian Showroom for a limited run this month.

Was it because Palminteri is Italian, and his semi-autobiographical solo show fits the casino’s Italianate theme? Because Wayne Brady canceled all his October dates in the showroom?

Because Palminteri felt like ending his yearlong national tour with a comfy work-play stint in Las Vegas?

Whatever the reason, this richly comic and compelling “Bronx Tale” fits in here like a bespoke Armani suit or a pair of Gucci loafers. With its doo-wop heart and street-wise soul, it’s a close cousin to “Jersey Boys” at the adjacent Palazzo.

Snazzy in a sharp charcoal suit, shooting his cuffs underneath a streetlamp at the Bronx, Palminteri situates us in 1960, where his wide-eyed 9-year-old self, Calogero Palminteri, watches over his world from a concrete stoop at the corner of 187th Street and Belmont Avenue. Read more..

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Chazz Palminteri on the red carpet of “A Bronx Tale.”

 Last night, Academy Award nominated actor Chazz Palminteri celebrated the opening of his one-man play “A Bronx Tale” at The Venetian Showroom. Stars in the audience included boxing champion Mike Tyson, Vanessa Minnillo, Chuck Zito, Marilu Henner, retired basketball player Gary Payton, pro golfer Tommy Armour III and more. Following the performance, a star-studded after-party took place inside Lavo at The Palazzo, a fitting location as Palminteri has been spotted at the Italian restaurant numerous times in the past few weeks–including twice this week alone! The celebrity guests and show attendees enjoyed Italian specialties from Lavo’s kitchen along with signature cocktails while congratulating Palminteri on his performance. Palminteri was seen enjoying one of his favorite Lavo dishes, the Chicken Marsala, while drinking tea with honey to soothe his voice after commanding the stage for 90 minutes. Read more..

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Chazz Palminteri, in 2007, lets his hands do the talking.

Chazz Palminteri’s hands do so much nimble work in “A Bronx Tale,” they deserve their own dressing room. In the actor’s engrossing, fleet-paced and disarmingly wry solo show, his skedaddling digits and palms help conjure up a 1960s New York neighborhood that’s as robust and piquant as a Zagat-endorsed marinara sauce.

Palminteri’s relaxed but expressive hands chronicle the agitated dice-shaking in a high-stakes craps game. They mime the gobs of mucus hurtling down on a stoop from a chronic spitter on an upper story. They illustrate the monotonous trundling of a crosstown bus, and jingle the car keys of an awkward teenager on a date. Most important, they mimic the majestic three-fingered salute of Sonny, a Mob boss with a heart made of — well, maybe a gold alloy. Read more..

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Gritty Chronicle Features Menagerie of Mobbed-up Characters That Are Both Laughable and Frightening

Chazz Palminteri doesn’t simply stroll or strut through his memoir of growing up among mobsters in an Italian neighborhood in the 1960s. As our tour guide through his one-man stage play A Bronx Tale, Palminteri blazes across the Parker Playhouse to challenge the scientific contention that there is no such thing as perpetual motion.

Although the story mirrors the 1993 film that he wrote and starred in, this solidly theatrical piece is much funnier and far more challenging as he slips in and out of a dozen characters. While “inspired” by real events and people in his adolescence, this gritty chronicle benefits from a dump truck of dramatic invention and good-natured exaggeration. Read more..

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A Bronx Tale

Written by and starring Chazz Palminteri

TO APPEAR IN EXCLUSIVE SOUTH FLORIDA RUN FEBRUARY 10-15 AT

FT. LAUDERDALE’S PARKER PLAYHOUSE
PRESENTED BY RRA Broadway Across America - FT. LAUDERDALE

AND FLORIDA THEATRICAL ASSOCIATION

Chazz Palminteri Recreates his tour de force Broadway performance

Directed by Tony winner Jerry Zaks

A BRONX TALE, the funny and touching memoir written and starring Academy Award®-nominated actor Chazz Palminteri comes to the Parker Playhouse in Ft. Lauderdale for eight performances only beginning Tuesday, February 10 through Sunday, February 15, 2009 presented by RRA Broadway Across America - Ft. Lauderdale and Florida Theatrical Association.

A BRONX TALE, launched this National Tour, September 2008 to rave reviews.    Phil Gallo, of Variety said it is “Masterful!  It occupies 100 minutes but it feels like five … it’s been almost 20 years since Palminteri’s one-man show, in which he plays 18 characters, first catapulted him to fame, but after two decades with this wonderful material, Palminteri’s story still seems as fresh and insightful as ever.”

In A BRONX TALE, the celebrated play on which he based the movie, Palminteri vividly depicts a young boy’s rough childhood in the 1960s-era Bronx and the unforgettable people he encountered. A classic coming-of-age story about reaching one’s true potential and trusting one’s heart. Read more..

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