Bringing the Bronx to the Segerstrom Center is as easy as an auspicious roll of the dice with “A Bronx Tale” arriving at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts on March 10 – 22, 2020.
It’s the true story of Chazz Palminteri’s growing up in 1960’s Bronx. “A Bronx Tale” started as a one man show starring Palminteri (1989), with a little boost from Robert De Niro it hit the big screen (1993), again with Palminteri in a lead role, this time as the Mob Boss, Sonny. Its latest reincarnation is as the crowd pleasing Mobster Musical “A Bronx Tale” (2016).
How, audiences might wonder, can a gangland, shoot ‘em up film lend itself to the musical stage? Fairly easily because at heart it’s a story, Palminteri’s story, of a boy’s coming of age under the guidance of two very different role models, the father he loves and the Mafia Don he admires. Telling the tale in song sets the mood as much as staging. “A Bronx Tale is dubbed “Jersey Boys” meets Westside Story because Doo Wop tunes bring audiences into the Bronx as seamlessly as Motown lets fans know they’ve left the Italian neighborhood at the corner of Belmont and Webster Avenues to arrive in the Black inner-city.
Palminteri’s play was meant to be a musical he says “The themes are so operatic; each character is such an archetype, the father Lorenzo, the son Calogero, and Sonny, the neighborhood Don. It’s about good and evil, love and fear.”
The Broadway production is on the road with touring Director Stephen Edlund and featuring Palminteri approved performers. Among the talented crew is Jeff Brooks as Sonny.
Obliviously, neither Brooks nor any of the players are big time bad. They’re actors, singers and dancers, darn good ones. Brooks, however, claims a background connection that makes him uniquely qualified to play Sonny, the Kingpin in the piece. He says “I played a character named Cheech in ‘Bullets over Broadway.” In Woody Allen’s 1994 movie Palminteri played the 1920’ gangster Cheech. In the movie version of “Bronx Tale,” Palminteri was Sonny. On Broadway, Nick Cordero was Sonny. I’m humbled and honored to be in the company of these great actors. The fact, that I played Cheech in ‘Bullets’ has definitely put me into a mind set to play Sonny.”
“Fans of the now classic movie will absolutely love the musical,” according to Brooks, “we pay homage to the movie but add a musical theatrical aspect to it. For audiences not familiar with the story,” he continues, “it takes place in the 1960’s in New York. This is a time ripe with racial tension, civil rights movements and segregation. So, here’s the thing, in the 1960’s Bronx there are two cultures; the Italian American culture based around the Capo’s, crime bosses and in the same neighborhood is the African American population. It mixes a coming of age story about fathers, sons and family with a tale of star- crossed lovers brave enough to bridge that Webster Avenue segregation line to give love a shot. More importantly it’s about the choices we make and how they help us to become the person we are meant to be. That’s the moral at the heart of the show.”
Brooks three word description of the musical “love or feat” pretty much sums up the story. The autobiographical script revolves around Calogero (Alec Nevin), Palmintri’s fictional alter-ego, and the male role models, his father Lorenzo (Nick Fradiani), a hard working family man and Sonny, the Mafia Boss, who’s a paradox, a stone cold killer who’s also not such a bad guy. Interestingly enough, both men share much of the same advice about life and love with the youthful Calogero. Their invaluable wisdom, relating to whether it is better to be loved or feared, shape the man he becomes.
Brooks says “My character, Sonny, best expresses the stories message, preaching that you choose how you want to be remembered. Do you want to be loved by people or do you want to be feared by people. You can’t be both, you have to pick one, love or fear. This is what will shape who you will become and the saddest thing in life is wasted talent.”
Sonny is a contradiction of many of the values taught to Calogero by his father, and yes he’s a mobster but he’s not a monster, at least, in Brooks’ opinion. He says, “Sonny is not the villain, the real villain of the piece is inherent racism. It’s the taught feeling of needing to stick to your own, and not going beyond your borders. The musical doesn’t glorify these thugs, they’re criminals but the wise guys aren’t the villains. Real criminal intent is blind hatred of another group of people. That’s a message that rings true today and it’s one that should be told across the country.
An important element of Calogero’s ‘coming of age’ is his falling in love with the right girl with the wrong skin color. This ‘Romano and Juliet’ scenario is highlighted in what Brooks nicknames “The Sonny Test.” He says “It’s about a girl being the special one. To quote Sonny, the only thing good for you is how you feel about each other…You’re only allowed three great women in your life…Sometimes you get them all at once. Tell you right now…Maybe this girl she put wind in your sails. Maybe she’s the first great one.”
“A Bronx Tale” is a story about a boy trying to feel his way out of childhood in “a world where everything seems black or white.” It is, however, the final number “The Choices We Made” which stresses the dangers of betting your soul by cheating. It’s a lesson that would serve us well today.
Shot‘em up, bang, bang, bars, star-crossed lovers, crooners, be-boppers, wise guys and wiser father figures, “A Bronx Tale” is a mix of creativity that is as pleasing to theatrical folks as pasta is to the palate.
And speaking of pasta, Segerstrom Center for the Arts has teamed up with Maggiano’s Little Italy Restaurant (South Coast Plaza) to offer a Dinner and Show Package. The limited offer is for March 13 and March 20 performances only and includes a family feast, a glass of wine and one ticket to the show. The price is $115 per person.
“A Bronx Tale” runs at the Segerstrom Center March 10 -20, 2020. For tickets and information: Online, SCFTA.org; The Box Office, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa; Phone, 714-556-2787.