Telling "A Bronx Tale" With Music

In the late 1980s, struggling actor Chazz Palminteri was fired from his job as a bouncer at a club. He used his newly found free time to write a semi-autobiographical play about growing up in the Bronx. The one man show, “ A Bronx Tale,” played to rave reviews and eventually was made into a film in 1993, starring Palminteri and Robert DeNiro.

[photo: Playhouse Square]

In 2018, Palminteri came to the idea center to talk about why he felt the themes in his one-man show, “ A Bronx Tale,” would be a good fit for a musical. He also shared thoughts on the similarities between two of the characters who are in conflict, Lorenzo, the bus driver, and the neighborhood gangster, Sonny LoSpecchio. Palminteri’s own life mirrors that of the musical’s main character, Calogero, known as “C.”

[photo: Dave DeOreo/ideastream]

The national tour of a “A Bronx Tale: The Musical” begins a three week run tonight in Playhouse Square’s Connor Palace Theater.