A Bronx Tale: The Musical play heads to Southern California in March

Credit: A Bronx Tale / Joan Marcus

A Bronx Tale is known to many as a film starring Robert De Niro (Joker) and Chazz Palminteri (The Usual Suspects) about an Italian-American boy who is torn between two worlds in the Bronx. Before it was a film, it was a one-man play by Palminteri that premiered in the ’80s, which is based on his life story. It then evolved into a musical stage play in 2016. The musical is now touring across the nation, and it will be headed to Southern California. Theatre lovers will get to see it at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa from March 10-17.

De Niro expressed interest in buying the film rights to the play. Palminteri would agree to sell the film rights if he was able to write the screenplay and play the role of Sonny, the mob boss who takes the young Italian-American under his wings. The film would garner positive reviews from critics, and it would later catapult Palminteri’s career as an actor. The two actors would collaborate again, and thus, the musical was born.

A Bronx Tale: The Musical is set in the Bronx in the 1960s, and a young man is caught between two worlds. One is a life where his father teaches him about hard work, and the other is under the influence of a mob boss.

The musical premiered on Broadway in 2016 and was co-directed by De Niro and Jerry Zaks, who directed the one-man show on Broadway.

Disney fans will definitely recognize the composer attached to the project, Alan Menken, who has composed the score for The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, and Beauty and the Beast.

The play features choreography by Sergio Trujillo.

To purchase tickets, please visit https://www.scfta.org/events/2020/a-bronx-tale. Catch A Bronx Tale: The Musical at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa on March 10-17.