"A Bronx Tale":Taking it personal

Chazz Palminteri, at 57, has gone back to where it all began -- back to the corner of 187th and Belmont and the sepia colors of a Bronx neighborhood that taught him how to be a man. Palminteri is doing this by way of reaching back to the theatrical property that helped forge his legend 20 years ago.

That was when Palminteri, down on his luck and desperate for a break, sat down with five pads of paper and began to write about a childhood filled with quirky goombahs and wiseguys. His memories evolved into "A Bronx Tale," a one-man show that opened in Los Angeles in 1989, moved to New York and became a movie in the hands of Robert De Niro. Remind me later: There's a story Palminteri loves to tell about that.

He revived the stage version of "A Bronx Tale" for a four-month Broadway run in 2007-08 and then -- for the first time in his career -- put himself through the rigors of a national tour. He's doing eight shows at the State Theatre in Minneapolis, opening Tuesday.

"This has been tough on me and my family," he said during a publicity stop in Minneapolis. "I don't like being away this much, but this is my mission to let people see this play because the message is so strong, to not waste your life."

Palminteri was 9 when he saw a man gunned down near the home he shared with two siblings and his parents. He refrained from squealing when the cops inquired, and that little act won him the incipient friendship of the local Mafia don, Sonny. The play spins off from that episode and shows the young man coming of age, torn between the easy cash and notoriety of low-level mob life or the work ethic espoused by his bus-driver father.

" 'Bronx Tale' is about the workingman," he said. "That's why when people ask me why 'Bronx Tale' glorifies Sonny, no, it doesn't. It talks about my father. My father is the one who said, 'The saddest thing in life is wasted talent. Don't waste your life, son.'"

Grasping for something

Bouncing around Los Angeles in the late 1980s, Palminteri might have been excused had he felt he was doing just that. After being canned at a Tinseltown restaurant, he retired to his rooms and began to search his soul. There was a story in there and he finally coaxed it out. He put "A Bronx Tale" onstage, playing all 18 characters himself, and Hollywood soon came calling.

Palminteri loves to relate what happened when offers came for the film rights. The bidding started at $250,000, but Palminteri wanted to write the screenplay and star as the gangster, Sonny. Film moguls took that to mean he wanted more money, so they bumped the offer to $500K, but without Palminteri's participation. So determined was he to write and act in the film that he even turned down $1 million.

Finally, he took the show to New York, where De Niro saw it and offered to direct the film. Of course, he said, Palminteri could portray Sonny and write the screenplay. Done.

Palminteri followed "A Bronx Tale" with supporting roles in Woody Allen's "Bullets Over Broadway," for which he earned an Academy Award nomination, and in "The Usual Suspects." He also did "Faithful," "Analyze This" and "Hurlyburly," among others.

("Simpsons" fans will recall that "A Bronx Tale" inspired the episode when Bart goes to work for Fat Tony and eventually stands trial for the alleged capping of Principal Skinner.)

Palminteri continued to write, did some producing and directing. But he was not finished with "A Bronx Tale," and the stars aligned in 2007 for a chance to produce it on Broadway. Director Jerry Zaks was available and Palminteri, then 55, still had the physical agility in his long, lean frame to sell eight shows a week. As for the story, Palminteri felt it was richer after 15 years.

"It's better for a combination of reasons," he said. "When I first did it, I was the young boy relating to the father. Now I'm the young boy relating to the father and the father relating to the young boy, because I have a son and a daughter."

Palminteri is nearing the end of the tour. He'll finish with a month at Harrah's in Atlantic City this summer and after a break to do a film project he won't discuss ("The deal is not done yet"), he'll bring "A Bronx Tale" to Vegas in October.

Would he ever consider a sequel?

"People always say that," he said. "Part Two of 'Bronx Tale' is me being who I am now. I don't know if that's as interesting as the first part. Success is not as interesting as getting there."

Graydon Royce • 612-673-7299