![]() ![]() "He would say, ‘What are you doing with them? You have to be careful. "I would go to the bar and hang out and my father didn’t like it,'' he said. He would get coffee and sometimes throw dice for underworld figures, but never was drawn into their world. For that, he is befriended by the Sicilian crime boss, Sonny, who tempts Calogero with a way of life condemned by his law-abiding father.Īs a child, Palminteri did in fact witness a man gunned down in daylight on a city street and knew plenty of unsavory characters while growing up. The story starts when 9-year-old Calogero witnesses a murder, but keeps quiet. "It’s about how the choices you make when you’re young shape your life,'' said Palminteri, who revived "A Bronx Tale'' in 2007 for Broadway, where it ran for four months. ‘I made it a one-man show because I figured if I was going to get noticed, I had to do something special.''Īnd he did, bringing to life 18 characters to tell the coming-of-age story of Calogero (Chazz’s birth name) Annello, a boy growing up in the 1960s, when hardworking fathers and high-living gangsters offered opposing role models.Īlthough the Bronx sets the tone, the father-son dynamic and the tension between conscience and temptation are universal. I looked at the card my father gave me, and decided, ‘If they won’t give me a great part, I’ll write one myself,’ he recalled. "I was so depressed and didn’t know what to do. He wrote "A Bronx Tale'' when he was at a low point in Los Angeles, unable to get good movie roles and fired from his doorman job when he made the mistake of barring big-time agent Swifty Lazar from his own party. And people who’ve seen the play or the movie say this message has had a big impact on them.''Ĭlearly, Palminteri, 56, hasn’t wasted his talent. "Now, when I sign autographs, I give kids cards with that message. "He wrote on a card ‘The saddest thing in this world is wasted talent’ and said, ‘Leave this in your room and always look at it,’'' Palminteri said. I love the feeling people get.''Īs he tours the country in the revival of "A Bronx Tale,'' Palminteri passes on the life-changing wisdom of his father, a bus driver who died last year at age 89. I love being onstage and telling the story. "When I first did it, I related to the boy, but now I relate more to the father,'' said Palminteri, who performs the show March 31 to April 5 at the Colonial Theatre in Boston. ![]() Since then, he has become a father of two and lost his own father. ![]() Twenty years after his one-man show opened, actor and writer Chazz Palminteri says the semi-autobiographical "A Bronx Tale'' means more to him than ever. ![]()
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