L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, AUGUST 11, 2022 www.italoamericano.org 28 L'Italo-Americano I talian-American actor a n d p l a y w r i g h t C h a z z P a l m i n t e - r i w r o t e A B r o n x Tale, a powerful one- man stage play that depicted his bruising childhood, in 1988. The piece included wit- nessing a gangland killing when he was nine years old. Palminteri played 18 cha- racters and brought them all to life in his autobiographical play. He wrote the screenplay f o r t h e f i l m v e r s i o n o f A Bronx Tale, which was later d e v e l o p e d i n t o a R o b e r t DeNiro-directed film, and t h e b o o k f o r t h e 2 0 1 8 B r o a d w a y m u s i c a l o f t h e same name. It was the first time in history that the same a c t o r w r o t e t h e o n e - m a n p l a y , t h e m o v i e , a n d t h e Broadway musical, starring in each one. On the 35th anniversary of this classic play Bronx-born and raised Palminteri returns to the New York stage for one night only to perform the star-making piece exactly as h e d e b u t e d i t . H e w i l l perform A Bronx Tale at New York City's Town Hall on Saturday, October 1, 2022 at 8:00 PM. For the first time ever, Palminteri will also enjoy a post-show conversa- tion with the audience to discuss the iconic play's evo- lution and his childhood in the Bronx. Mr. Palminteri, were y o u a w a r e , w h e n y o u wrote the play in 1988, that it was going to be so powerful? No, I knew it was good. I knew it was very good. But I didn't know it was going to explode that way. Anyone tel- l i n g y o u t h e y k n o w something it's going to be successful, they are crazy because you can't predict that. I wrote something from t h e h e a r t a n d i t w o r k e d . What's really crazy is that I ' v e b r o u g h t i t t o T e x a s , Milwaukee, Houston. People all over the country love it. I m e a n , i t ' s i n J a p a n . . . t h e m o v i e w a s a h u g e h i t i n Europe, and wherever I bring the play, whether it be Texas or New Mexico, people who k n o w n o t h i n g a b o u t t h e Bronx love the story and love the play. I can't explain it. What in your opinion made it so successful? People feel it in their gut, it's about archetypes. I wrote a b o u t a r c h e t y p e s , a b o u t Mother, Father, and children, a b o u t w a s t e d t a l e n t a n d wasted life. It hits people on a very personal level. People laugh and cheer. It's one of those things that is just per- fect. I hate to say it. Fans of "Bronx" say that in the movie there are so many valuable life l e s s o n s a n d p i e c e s o f advice. What's your favo- rite quote from it? I think that people's favo- rite quote, when they quote Bronx the movie, is "One of the saddest things in life is wasted talent." So they say that a lot in articles about boxers or ath- letes or actors that wasted their life, they bring that quo- tation out a lot. Personally, I also love "Is it better to be loved or feared?" That's a very big one. G o i n g b a c k t o y o u r c h i l d h o o d , y o u l i v e d some harsh experiences, like when you witnessed a gang killing at 9. What about the good memo- ries of those years? I d o n ' t w a n t p e o p l e t o think that I grew up in this drug-infested, violent neigh- b o r h o o d . I g r e w u p i n a n incredibly beautiful neigh- b o r h o o d , w h e r e n o b o d y locked the door and all the k i d s p l a y e d i n t h e s t r e e t . Now, was there violence at times? Yes. Violence happe- ned once in a while, like the time I witnessed a murder. B u t I h a d a w o n d e r f u l childhood and I have great m e m o r i e s . . . w o n d e r f u l memories. Where we lived, everybody was Italian. The store owners ... there were only a few store owners that weren't, they were Jewish. I had a wonderful mother and father; my father was a bus d r i v e r . M y m o t h e r d i d n ' t work and then she became a seamstress. My father was from Menfi, in the province of Agrigento. And my mother was from Messina. Is the car door test a true story? Did someone tell you that? Was that a thing in the Bronx? That was a thing we all talked about, that we all said back then: if a girl doesn't open up a car door for you, that says something about her, and she is not good for you. So put it in the movie and it became iconic. It's a s t a p l e . P e o p l e h a v e b e e n talking about it for 35 years. Have you seen Prince Harry getting in the old Jaguar? Megan Markle opened the door for him and it became big news. Pretty amazing. What memory do you h a v e o f t h e m o m e n t Roberto De Niro told you he wanted to make your play into a movie? I was doing the show and I remember I had just turned down, about two weeks ear- lier, a $1 million offer. Then, a week after, they offered me 5 0 0 , 0 0 0 . A n d t h e n f o r a month, nothing. They offered me $1 million to walk away a n d h a v e s o m e b o d y e l s e write it. See, all the stars - all the big stars - wanted to play Sonny. And I said no, I'm p l a y i n g S o n n y , a n d I wouldn't sell it. Then finally, one day, I got offstage after the show and they came over to me and said: "Robert De Niro's in your dressing room, he just saw the show and he is waiting for you." So I went to the dressing room, and there was Bob, and he said: "I love the show. I think it could be a great movie. I know you don't want to sell it because you want to play Sonny and you want to write it. I'll tell y o u w h a t , I ' l l p l a y y o u r father. And I want to direct it. And you'll play Sonny, and get to write it. And that's the w a y i t ' l l b e . " I s h o o k h i s hand. And that was it! I s t h e r e a n y t h i n g about Sonny that stayed with you? You know, it's funny you ask me that. It's almost like t h e c h a r a c t e r b e c a m e a memory after I wrote it. You see, after having written it and played it on stage, it's almost like I forgot about it... I no longer thought about it. It's been like a catharsis: I went through it and then I moved on. And it actually was very, very good. What do you like more between acting and wri- ting? I like both. I like directing, I like writing and I like lectu- ring. I enjoy it all. Whatever I'm doing, I love doing it, and I'm happy to be alive doing it. H a v e y o u e v e r b e e n back to the Bronx? I do go back. I was there last night. It's smaller now, it's gentrified, which is fine. But the stores are the same. I t ' s g r e a t . G i n o ' s p a s t r y , Mike's Deli. When I was a kid they were there, and they still are. One night only in New York with Italian- American actor Chazz Palminteri SILVIA GIUDICI Italian-American actor and playwright Chazz Palminteri (Photo: lev radin/Shutterstock) LIFE PEOPLE PLACES HERITAGE TRADITIONS

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