CHAZZ PALMINTERI Returns!

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
My man Chazz, mister Chaz palmonary himself. Yes, good, good,
how are you? The other time I had John was
really interesting. You were had a Kickstarter thing going for
you or another project, another labor of love of yours.
And when I had mentioned, yeah, you're on in New Haven,
you had actually said to me, Hey, any theaters around there.

(00:22):
I'm still doing my show. You're still doing the One Man,
so you had asked. And it's so ironic because I
had said, well, we've got the Schuber. I rattled off
the places that I thought would be a good home
for it. This is before it had even become a musical,
So I find it kind of serendipitous. It's strange to
be chatting with you now and getting a Bronx tail

(00:43):
in town.

Speaker 2 (00:44):
That's amazing, it is.

Speaker 1 (00:46):
How did you feel? You must get asked this all
the time, And I pride myself on not asking like
the same questions I feel like everybody asks, but this
one begs to be asked, Like when somebody came to
you and said, yeah, well we'll set it to music.
What was your first reaction to that?

Speaker 2 (01:01):
Well, I always thought it wouldn't make a great musical.
I always thought about it for years, and then finally
it was really Tommy Mottola, the legendary music producer, who
came over to me and said, look, you know he
always we talked about this. We got to make this
a musical, and let's make it happen. And then I
worked with Alan Macon years ago when I directed a movie,

(01:24):
and I just thought Alan Macer would be the perfect guy.
He read the book that I wrote for the musical,
loved it, and we got Glenn Slator and Jerry's acts
and it made it happen. Bob Dean Arrow co directed
it with Jerry, and that's how it all happened.

Speaker 1 (01:39):
Yeah, and now I didn't get to it on Broadway,
which and I'm a Broadway guy. I don't know how
that happen.

Speaker 2 (01:46):
You got to see it. The musical is incredible.

Speaker 1 (01:48):
But the most interesting thing is, you know, I run
with a bunch of goons friends of mine who they
made fun of me for years. Are you going to
see another musical? And they went to their first ever
Their only Broadway experience has been a bronx tale. Guys
who are like just really that they had to go
and see it, So it's it's drawing in some guys

(02:09):
who've never been to Broadway before their love.

Speaker 2 (02:11):
Yeah, a lot of that, absolutely, A lot of people
who have never been to broad but they came to
see a Bronxdale and loved it. Yeah, I'm very proud
of that.

Speaker 1 (02:19):
Yeah, and I you know, I count my friends among them.
I'm wondering if it's one of my favorite scenes in
the film is when I just think it's one of
the It's one of my favorite scenes maybe in a
movie ever, is when de Niro when the boy's father
says to him, you know you're wrong here and he's
getting held back and you you know, the Chazz Palmonary character,

(02:41):
although you know, it's saying I like you, don't be stupid,
but I like you. And I just thought that is
that dynamic captured here? Is it is?

Speaker 2 (02:51):
That song? Absolutely is? Absolutely? Yeah. You know. The great
thing about a musical is that it takes a great
scene and if the music is great and the song
takes it to another level. And that's what Bronsteale the
musical does. I mean, it just takes everything to another level.

Speaker 1 (03:06):
I would think the challenge would be no, no, no,
let's not sing this part like this part speak it well.

Speaker 2 (03:13):
Some parts can be sung, some parts can't. You're right,
there are parts that just lend itself to a great song,
and then some parts you go, you know what, No,
this has to stay words. And that's the idea about
when you write a musical. That's that's the difference between
a great musical and an iconic musical. You know it

(03:36):
just something just works right.

Speaker 1 (03:39):
When I can't wait to see it. I wanted to
close things out by saying to you, my son, lucas
named after Luca Blazzi. Yeah, my father made me do that.
It was just going to be Luke, but my father said, no,
he's got to be Italian, and you got to make
it like Luca.

Speaker 2 (03:53):
Like he's right, He's right. Luca is a great name.

Speaker 1 (03:56):
It is, and I shouldn't say after Luca Bazzi. But
that was my father reference point. Yeah, and he's gone now,
so U. But so I'm glad I did that. But
I heard from an old friend of mine this past year,
a clown from my neighborhood. I haven't seen a million year.
It's just a loud mouth Italian, you know. And he
opened a restaurant. He said, come down, come to the restaurant.

(04:17):
He's very he's loud, he's obnoxious. He says, you got
to come to the restaurant. I hit the restaurant and
he acted like such a just the same old him.
But he was entertaining. But I had to keep saying
to him, I'm with my son, could you calm down.
When we left, my son told me I love that guy.
I want to be like that guy. And so I
texted him later that night. I go, this is like

(04:38):
a Bronx tale. I'm de Niro and you're bombing my son.
So I think it's an interesting dynamic. What was that
moment like when you created the whole Who were you
in the story? Actually, Chatz, I think it's a question.
I'm acting. I'm asking you.

Speaker 2 (04:54):
Yes, I'm closed boy.

Speaker 1 (04:56):
So there was something you saw that You're like, I
don't know this, guys running.

Speaker 2 (05:00):
The show, Well no, I so I saw the killing.
That's exactly what happened. I saw the man kill a
man right in front of me when I was nine.

Speaker 1 (05:07):
And you gravitate. You saw a power in that, and
to your well, I.

Speaker 2 (05:11):
Didn't gravitate to wasn't because of that. I just, first
of all, I didn't rat on the guy. But they
were just fun guys, and I would go there. But
you see, a lot of people don't realize that Sonny
would tell me the exact thing that my father was.
They you know, go in school, go to college. Yeah,
this neighborhood. That's what makes the story so interesting. It's
no black and white, good and evil. It's it's gray

(05:32):
and gray and young boy colojo who I was. I
took the best of my father and the best of Sonny,
and I became a grown man. That's how it works.

Speaker 1 (05:40):
And and your father did he stand by your side
at the services further?

Speaker 2 (05:44):
Absolutely? Yeah?

Speaker 1 (05:46):
That makes a movie that much more more powerful to me.

Speaker 2 (05:49):
Yeah, my father was a bus driver, you know.

Speaker 1 (05:51):
Yeah, and he stood alongside you chiefs captured so well
by Niro too, Just great stuff, right, Make no mistake.
I hate the fact that my son idolizes this dope
from my neighborhood.

Speaker 2 (06:04):
Make make him sea Brown's tail it and he'll learn
perfect Let him see it, because he'll realize that the
choices he makes will shape his life forever. He'll understand it,
trust me.

Speaker 1 (06:16):
Oh yeah, we watched the movie immediately thereafter going to
that restaurant, and he love absolutely loved it. Great stuff
and chess commentary. Thank you for telling your story and
for taking the time today.

Speaker 2 (06:28):
God bless thank you.