‘Bronx Tale’ an exciting theater experience not to be missed

At no risk of embarrassment, I can safely label "A Bronx Tale" -- whose run at The Venetian Showroom has been extended through Saturday -- one of the most exciting theater experiences I've had on the Strip in nearly 13 years of reviewing. I wasn't particularly looking forward to seeing it. It's too easy for a one-man show to turn monotonous, leaving you stuck trying to find a piece of set worth staring at.

But Oscar-nominated actor Chazz Palminteri brings a special kind of reality to his script about his tough, 1960s-era Bronx childhood, and the unusual relationship he forms with a local gangster head. (Far more interesting to me, though, is the relationship between the boy's father and the gangster. It's not as easy to sort out.) Palminteri inhabits 18 characters so thoroughly that I walked away feeling as if I'd seen a big-cast production. We've had a lot of coming-of-age big-city stories, but it's difficult to recall one as diverse, hard-driving and complicatedly human as this one.

It was odd watching this gritty drama in a luxurious casino showroom. Did someone owe someone a favor? Maybe this revives the hope that local entertainers -- such as Bette Midler and Cher, who have theater backgrounds -- might follow suit with limited engagements of dramas that they've always wanted to do but have been thwarted by commercial considerations. Imagine four off-season weeks of Bette Midler as Medea. Or Cher as Eleanor of Aquitane. Rip Taylor as King Lear. (Remember the moving autobiographical drama he did at the university several years ago?) The possibilities are dizzying ("A Bronx Tale" tickets: 702-414-9000).

The 125-seat capacity Onyx Theatre is continuing to expand its product. Used to be it hosted one show a weekend night. Now, you've got to carefully check its calendar (at onyxtheatre.com) to figure out what's on when. "Karnival" takes the stage the first Wednesday of every month at 7 p.m. (with a special Halloween show Oct. 28). The potpourri of events (directed by Stephanie Castellone) gives you the feeling that whoever happens to be off that night around town is going to be called on to entertain.

A Buddha, contortion/acrobatic act set the standard recently with an overwhelming display of physical precision by five (mostly Cirque du Soleil) artists.

At this point, the show's possibilities far outweigh its achievements. Host "Miss Ginger Grant" needs an emergency upgrade in material, and the acts too often don't segue well. (Neither does the intermission, which takes place 19 minutes after the opening curtain.)

But "Karnival" -- with some careful choices -- could easily become a great entertainment sampler when you're not quite sure what kind of evening you're in the mood for. ...

In my last column, I misspelled the name of Frank Marquette, which some local theater buffs were quick to tell me. Now in Kingston, N.Y., Marquette began the annual Scrooge production at Lawrys Prime Rib, which will continue this year with Ed Grysaka at the helms.

Anthony Del Valle can be reached at DelValle@aol.com. You can write him c/o Las Vegas Review-Journal, P.O. Box 70, Las Vegas NV 89125.