Recent arts coverage:
- Evolutionary biology. Aesthetic determinism. Live action role playing. The Rude Mechs are making a new play again
- Suburban battlefield: Women fight invisible foe in Amie Siegel’s ‘Black Moon’
- In eerie paintings by Ana Fernandez, a house isn’t just a house
More arts coverage | Follow this blog on Twitter @artsinaustin | Read recent arts reviews
Austin360 blogs > Austin Arts: Seeing Things > Archives > 2008 > September > 04 > Entry
Review: ‘A Bronx Tale’
Sweet and sharp, tender and tough Chazz Palminteri delivered an entire world in just 90 minutes Wednesday night at the Long Center when he premiered the national tour of “A Bronx Tale,” his semi-autobiographical one-man show about growing up in a Mafia-managed Bronx neighborhood.
Slipping effortlessly in and out of more than a dozen characters, sometimes impressively orchestrating a conversation between three or four of them, Palminteri unwinds his tale with tenderness — and also a master storyteller’s flare for charming, captivating and surprising.
Sure, “A Bronx Tale” story may feel like it covers little new ground in a post-Sopranos cultural landscape — a young boy caught between his fascination with a Mob boss and his upright father, the insular Italian American community cracking under the social upheavals of the 1960s. But Palminteri’s clear affection for his characters gives his tale heft and sincerity.
Indeed it was Palminteri’s earnestness that enthralled the near-capacity audience Wednesday night.
Began in 1989 as an off-Broadway play then made into a movie in 1993, Palminteri revived the stage show on Broadway last year.
Still, this isn’t some shop-worn solo show. Instead, “A Bronx Tale” is reaffirmation that good storytelling and theater thrive.
“A Bronx Tale” continues 8 p.m. tonight and Friday and 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Saturday. Long Center, 701 W. Riverside Dr. $40-$80. 474-5664. www.thelongcenter.org.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment Categories: Long Center, Reviews
Comments
When commenting, we ask that you keep things civil and abide by our Visitor Agreement. To report comment abuse, click here.