Photo by Joan Marcus
Chazz Palminteri's story has been on quite the journey since the late 1980s. A Bronx Tale began life as an autobiographical one-man show, which transferred to off-Broadway's Playhouse 91 after its Los Angeles world premiere. The sold-out run played from October 10 to December 24 1989. None other than Robert De Niro would attend one of those performances and ended up securing the rights for a film adaptation on the one condition that Palminteri would write the screenplay and be cast as Sonny in the movie. The subsequent film marked the directorial debut for De Niro (who also starred as Lorenzo) and premiered in September 1993. The next stop for this now infamous tale was Broadway as Palminteri revived the one-man show at the Walter Kerr Theatre from October 4, 2007 through to February 24, 2008 under the direction of Jerry Zaks. So, what was the next logical step for A Bronx Tale? A musical adaptation, of course! And that's where we arrive at our #ShowOfTheWeek!
A Bronx Tale - The Musical features an A-List of A Bronx Tale alumni and rightfully so. Chazz Palminteri writes the book for what can only be described as his "baby" and the aforementioned Jerry Zaks and Robert De Niro return to the story as co-directors of the musical adaptation. If that wasn't enough, they've also thrown some more Broadway royalty into the mix with Alan Menken and Glenn Slater providing music and lyrics, respectively. The pair have previously worked together on the stage musical adaptations of Disney's 'The Little Mermaid,' 'Sister Act,' and 'Leap of Faith,' as well as the animated Disney musical "Tangled." So with so much pedigree behind it, the bright lights of Broadway were a sure bet.
After years and years of development, the musical finally premiered at the Paper Mill Playhouse in New Jersey on February 4, 2016 and went on to begin previews at Broadway's Longacre Theatre on November 3 and officially opened on December 1, 2016... and, breathe... here we are.
For myself as a musical theatre fan, some of the first elements of this new musical which struck me were the loving nods to some of its Broadway predecessors. The production's staging, its scenic design, lighting and choreography pay homage to some of the greatest musicals ever written, such as West Side Story and Guys and Dolls. The show's intro and outro also bear a striking resemblance to a show that has only just completed an 11 year+ stint on the Great White Way in Jersey Boys. In the same way that Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons break the fourth wall to address us, so too does our main protagonist, Calogero. Making his Broadway debut, Bobby Conte Thornton does a fine job with the difficult dual task of being the piece's narrator and simultaneously leading the action on stage too. On film, this is easily simplified with the use of voice-over for narration. I applaud the decision to keep the notion of a narrator in the musical, as that 'voice' has become a trademark in the tale's various incarnations over the years, and I applaud Thornton for his own telling of this tale.
Read our interview with Bobby Conte Thornton HERE.
Nick Cordero also shows great skill in his nuanced portrayal of toughman Sonny. There is a fine balance between the notions of threat, respect and empathy and we, as audience members, are drawn to Cordero with all three sentiments. During my favourite musical number - "One of the Great Ones" - we get to see the softer side of Sonny in a beautiful piece of musical theatre enhancing character depth and gripping us with perhaps the catchiest tune of the entire score at the same time.
The company recently hit the recording studio too, so make sure to look out for the release of A Bronx Tale - The Musical's Broadway Cast Recording in the near future!
Click here for tickets to A Bronx Tale - The Musical, currently booking through to November 19, 2017 at Broadway's Longacre Theatre.
Bobby Conte Thornton & Nick Cordero in A Bronx Tale More Production PhotosOriginally published on