A Bronx Tale: Chazz Palminteri to make his Broadway debut

Academy Award nominated actor Chazz Palminteri will make his Broadway debut this fall with his one-man show A Bronx Tale plays a limited 18 week engagement at The Walter Kerr Theatre, directed by Tony Award-winner Jerry Zaks.

The show will begin previews on 4 Oct 2007, opening on 25 Oct and running through to 10 Feb 2008.

A Bronx Tale was first mounted off Broadway in 1989 at Playhouse 91. In the the semi-autobiographical show Palminteri brings 18 characters to life, depicting a rough childhood on Bronx streets populated by a cast of friends and enemies.

Performing the show in Los Angeles and New York, Palminteri caught the attention of studios, producers and directors � all of whom wanted to make the film version � without him. Palminteri turned down a million dollar offer for the film rights, despite having $200 in his bank account at the time. Robert DeNiro came to see the show, and brought both it and Palminteri to the screen, making his directorial debut in the process.

The design team for the Broadway production of A Bronx Tale will be announced shortly.

The play will be produced on Broadway by Go Productions in association with Jujamcyn Theaters.

Chazz Palminteri has over 50 movies to his credit including The Usual Suspects, Bullets over Broadway, Analyze This, Hurly Burly, Mulholland Falls, and A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints. He was last seen on the New York stage playing 'Ernesto Roma' in an Off-Broadway production of The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui (2002) starring with Al Pacino, John Goodman, Steve Buscemi, and Billy Crudup.

Jerry Zaks is a four time Tony Award winner (The House of Blue Leaves, Lend Me a Tenor, Six Degrees of Separation and Guys and Dolls) and has directed over 30 New York productions. He was last represented on Broadway with 'Losing Louie ' (2006).