A Bronx Tale plays final performance on Broadway

A Bronx Tale, the one man show written and performed by Chazz Palminteri, will play its final performance this afternoon (24 Feb 2008) at the Walter Kerr Theatre. When the show closes it will have played 108 regular performances and 19 previews.

The show opened at The Walter Kerr Theatre on 25 Oct 2007, following previews from 4 Oct, for a limited enagement that was originally scheduled to end on 10 Feb 2008, which was then extended by two weeks, through to 24 Feb 2008.

The extension of A Bronx Tale was in part a response to the 19 Day Broadway Strike in Nov 2007, when a dispute between Local One, Broadway's unionised stage hands, and the Theatre League stopped performances.

The Broadway production opened to mostly good reviews: "Unforgettable" (New York Theatre Guide); "A rejuvenating act of faith in the complementary powers of acting and storytelling." (New York Times); "At best, this is a placeholder" (NewsDay); "Merely a warmed-up pile of meatballs dished out by a tired server." (Star-Ledger); "Engaging stories told crisply and engagingly." (New York Sun); "Remarkably gripping." (Bloomberg); "Vibrant, warmhearted saga." (Associated Press); "It's mildly entertaining and impressively acted." (Variety).

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.

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.