If the story sounds familiar, it’s because it is. It’s a coming-of-age story based on Chazz Palminteri’s 1989 one-man show, which was made into a 1993 movie starring Robert DeNiro. Palminteri grew up in an Italian neighborhood in the Bronx. It was a time when neighborhoods were clearly defined –Italians lived on Belmont Street, blacks lived on Webster Street, and people knew better than to cross those boundaries.
The show opens with four guys standing on a corner humming a tune. Our hero, Calogero (Joey Barreiro), introduces us to his neighborhood, which also happens to be a catchy dance number, “Belmont Avenue”. One day, when he was nine years old, Young Calogero (Frankie Leoni) saw the neighborhood ‘made man’, Sonny (Joe Barbara), shoot someone.
After Calogero refused to identify him to the cops, Sonny took Calogero under his wing, teaching him to play craps, with another song and dance number, “Roll ‘Em”. His parents, Lorenzo’s (Richard H. Blake) and mother, Rosina (Michelle Aravena), went ballistic when they found the money he’d gotten from Sonny, but young “C”, as Sonny dubbed him, refused to stay away from his hero.
Calogero fell for a girl he’d seen in school. Although Jane (Brianna-Marie Bell) liked him right back, she lived on Webster Street, which was forbidden territory. “C” confided his love to Sonny, who encouraged him to meet her because she could be “One of the Great Ones”. Sonny even loaned him his car for the date.
Before Calogero could leave, his buddies attacked a couple of black guys who were walking down the street. He pulled them off but one of them happened to be Jane’s brother, who told her that Calogero was one of the attackers, so she sent him away. Meanwhile, his buddies decided to get the guys who’d trespassed in their neighborhood, so they loaded their car with some homemade Molotov cocktails, but Sonny pulled “C” out of the car, saving his life. If you want to know how/why, you’ll have to see the show.
“A Bronx Tale” runs through March 24th at the James M. Nederlander Theatre (formerly the Oriental), 24 W. Randolph, Chicago. Running time is 2 hours, 15 minutes, with an intermission. Performances are Tuesdays at 7:30 at pm; Wednesdays at 2:00 and 7:30 pm; Thursdays at 7:30 pm; Fridays at 7:30 pm; Saturdays at 2:00 and 8:00 pm; and Sundays at 2:00 pm. Tickets range from $27-$98. FYI (312) 977-1710, (800) 775-2000, www.broadwayinchicago.com or www.ticketmaster.com