Las Vegas Weekly

April 28, 2010 · 10:36 AM

Chazz Palminteri returns to one-man tour de force at The Venetian

By Robin Leach

Actor Chazz Palminteri performs his one-man play, A Bronx Tale, in which he plays 18 characters including himself as a child and the wise guy who was his mentor.

Photo: Joan Marcus

“I’m ecstatic,” Academy Award-nominated actor Chazz Palminteri told me as he arrived in Las Vegas for his return to The Venetian for tonight’s opening again of his powerful one-man show A Bronx Tale, in which he plays 18 characters nonstop for more than 85 emotional-packed minutes.

“I’d like to return to Vegas to do this on and off for 12 weeks of the year,” he added. Tonight’s opening runs until May 9, and then he’ll return Oct. 7-18. His debut run premiered last October, and the response was phenomenally positive. We posted an interview with the legendary actor at that time.

Chazz commented: “I’m excited to bring my show back for all the people who missed it the first time here. I always enjoy visiting Las Vegas and feel right at home in The Venetian.”

He first staged his early life story in 1989 off-Broadway, and it became a Broadway hit in 2007. It’s the story of his rough childhood in the turbulent 1960s mob era of the Bronx, and Robert De Niro turned it into a 1993 movie with Chazz. Here’s a YouTube clip, which contains heavy-duty R-rated language from the film:

“I really felt strong that it would go over with Vegas audiences,” Chazz continued telling me. “But I never thought the reaction would be so fantastic. I’m ecstatic that it worked so well. I didn’t dare dream or think that way, but I am so pleased. It’s a great story like a Shakespearean play, and people can relate to the characters. It worked on Broadway. It worked in the 30 cities I took it on tour. I just never thought it would work as well as it has in Vegas -- and that’s incredible and amazing.

“It connects with everyone from 14 years of age up to 90 years of age, be they male or female. It works even more effectively because the audience is seeing me on the stage. There’s that presence -- it’s visceral. They can say, ‘That is the guy. This is his story.’

“If we keep having this success with it, there will be several return engagements. If I can come here on and off for 12 weeks of the year, I couldn’t be happier. I’ve always liked Vegas. It’s now becoming my second home. I love the restaurants, the beach clubs and the night action. I’m fanatical about being healthy and staying healthy, but the play is a real physical workout each time, so there can’t be any double shows in one evening.

“I wrote the play and the screenplay for the movie, so I know it inside out. I felt do it right and the sophisticated Vegas audience would sit still for it and realize it was a great feast they could bite into and say well done.

“The play is that solid . We’re not competing with acrobatics or comedy shows with impressionists. This was real life, and it packs a solid punch.”

Chazz is set to celebrate his return with an opening-night VIP party, after this evening’s premiere performance, at First Food & Bar in the Palazzo.

Robin Leach has been a journalist for more than 50 years and has spent the past decade giving readers the inside scoop on Las Vegas, the world’s premier platinum playground.

Follow Robin Leach on Twitter at Twitter.com/Robin_Leach.

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Follow VDLX Editor Don Chareunsy on Twitter at Twitter.com/VDLXEditorDon.

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