BPO Nation Presents Chazz Palminteri and His One-Man Show, A BRONX TALE, Tonight

BPO Nation proudly welcomes Academy Award Nominee Chazz Palminteri, as he brings his one-man show "A Bronx Tale" for one night only to Kleinhans Music Hall at 8 p.m. tonight, Oct/ 4. Written and adapted by Chazz from the screenplay of the same name, "A Bronx Tale" relives his coming of age in the midst of the workingman and gangsters in the Italian-American neighborhood where he grew up. Tickets for this one night only event "A Bronx Tale" go on sale Friday, May 2 at 9 a.m. Call (716) 885-5000 or visit kleinhansbuffalo.org. Don't forget to ask about our VIP Meet and Greet packages.

Bronx born and raised Chazz Palminteri was a natural choice to continue the long line of prominent Italian actors in the film industry. In the tradition set forth in the 1970s with such icons as director Martin Scorcese and actors Robert DeNiro and Joe Pesci, Palminteri brought grit, muscle and evocative realism to the sidewalks of New York.

Born in 1952, Palminteri learned from the school of hard knocks in the toughest area of the Bronx. The life lessons he lived through served him well in the pursuit of his acting career. He started out in The Actors Studio and honed his craft under the legendary Lee Straussberg.

Palminteri originally wrote the script for "A Bronx Tale" as a stage show, which he later performed as a one-man show in LA. It became the hottest property in Hollywood and he was offered one million dollars to walk away from the script. Palminteri wanted to play Sonny and write the screenplay. He continued his one man show with only $200 in his pocket. He was playing what was to be its last night in LA, when Robert DeNiro walked in, saw the show and, as they say, "the rest is history." DeNiro moved the production to New York where it played to sold out audiences for more than four months and earned Palminteri a New York Outer Circle award. He then finished the screenplay and starred opposite Robert DeNiro in the film version of "A Bronx Tale" which DeNiro chose as his directorial debut.

Palminteri has starred in almost 50 films, including "The Usual Suspects," "Bullets over Broadway" (for which he received an Academy Award nomination), "Analyze This," and "Mulholland Falls." He has directed an episode of the critically acclaimed HBO series "Oz" and recently starred opposite Al Pacino, John Goodman, and Steve Buscemi on the Broadway stage in "The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui."

Palminteri was honored by President Bill Clinton with a Special Achievement Award of The Performing Arts from the National Italian American Foundation.

Photo Credit: Joan Marcus