A Bronx Tale: The One Man Show Starring Chazz Palminteri

As the writer, director, and star of the new film “A Bronx Tale: The Original One Man Show,” Chazz Palminteri is taking it back to where it all began. The Academy Award-nominated actor, known for his portrayals of rough-and-tumble Italian characters, will premiere a new film based on his acclaimed one-man play on June 13 as the opening night feature of “De Niro Con,” a special Tribeca Film event that celebrates the films of Robert De Niro in honor of his 80th birthday. De Niro directed and starred in the original 1993 film version of “A Bronx Tale,” now considered a classic. After Palminteri premiered the one-man play in Los Angeles in 1989, he famously refused increasing sums of money to sell the story rights to all the major film studios. He wanted to write and star in it himself. Holding out proved to be the best decision, because two weeks after Palminteri turned down a million-dollar offer, De Niro showed up to watch the play. “I didn’t know he was there,” Palminteri recalled. “At the end, he said, ‘You should play Sonny and you should write it. It’s your life. If you shake my hand, that’s the way it will be.’ I made the right decision. A great director can make a great script a classic, and that’s what Bob did.” Palminteri has performed the stage play over 1,000 times, regularly to sold-out crowds. “People love the show and it’s been selling out for years, but now they’re going to see it up close — really up close and personal — because they will see every character, every nuance,” he said. “If you loved it live, get ready to see the power of the film up close.” Palmineri’s vision for “A Bronx Tale: The Original One Man Show” was brought to life by 3 Nuts Studios, an up-and-coming indie production company formed in January 2023. Consisting of Jason Nower, John J. Sheridan, and Mike “The Homeless Pimp” Lavin, 3 Nuts Studios’ recent credits include two Netflix comedy specials, “Speshy Weshy” with Chris Distefano (2022) and “37 and Single” (2023) with Jared Freid, and two YouTube comedy specials, “On the Road” (2024) with Dan Soder and “Our Time Is Up” with Colin Quinn (2024). “I was looking for the right people to film it,” Palminteri said of 3 Nuts Studios, “and I didn’t want to do it in a conventional way. I wanted to film it like an actual movie with one person playing all the characters, like I do onstage. I wanted to capture that feeling on stage in a film, and I was very fortunate to meet three nuts. Jason and Michael and John — they got it. They did an amazing job. It was the right people coming together and everything just seemed to work perfectly.” The new stage-play film of “A Bronx Tale” was shot at The Paramount in Huntington, N.Y., in March 2023 in front of a yet another sold-out crowd. In the ensuing months, Nower, Sheridan, and Lavin managed all editing and visual post-production work on the film, working closely with Palminteri. And in September 2023 — 30 years since “A Bronx Tale” first hit movie theaters — De Niro, Jane Rosenthal, and Jon Kilik officially came aboard as executive producers after watching a private screening of the film. Chazz Palminteri’s manager Brian Liebman is also an executive producer on the project. “Chazz’s intention was to bring the world a version of ‘A Bronx Tale’ that De Niro originally saw — the version that inspired him to make the film. This new retelling hones in on the idea that all of us carry a story in our hearts about our friends, our families, and our neighborhoods that is as meaningful as anything you can watch on the big screen,” said Nower, noting that Palminteri was an incredible mentor for the 3 Nuts team. De Niro Con, in addition to screening 13 classic Robert De Niro films, will also feature a 50th anniversary showing of “Mean Streets” and a conversation between De Niro and Martin Scorsese, to be moderated by the rapper Nas. De Niro Con will feature an exhibition of 300 curated items from De Niro’s personal archive, such as annotated manuscripts, research materials, rare photos, and costume pieces, as well as unique experiences like Max Cady’s prison tattoo parlor from “Cape Fear,” where a visitor can even get a real tattoo. From trivia night to a hero-sandwich competition to “Meet the Parents” style polygraph tests — the list of exciting offerings goes on.