Baldwin native Peter Fogel is set to bare his soul and star in a one-man show, directed and produced by Chazz Palminteri, the genius behind A Bronx Tale, in Port Washington next month.
‘Til Death Do Us Part ... You First! is a multimedia solo show and autobiographical account of Fogel’s love life — searching for love after heartbreak, dating, marriage, divorce, etc. It’s a 90-minute, high-energy tale of a comedian’s “quixotic quest” to find the one.
Fogel, national touring star of the hit comedy My Mother’s Italian, My Father’s Jewish and I’m in Therapy, holds nothing back, mining the humor in all his failed romances and bringing the audience along on a journey of the battle of the sexes.
After the show, Palminteri will host a Q&A session.
Everyone’s invited to the show, to take place on Friday, Feb. 7 at 8 p.m. at the Jeanne Rimsky Theater at 232 Main Street, Port Washington.
Audience members, Fogel said, will be treated to a journey. It’s Valentine’s Day, and eternal bachelor Fogel, recently dumped by his long-term girlfriend, is visited by a mysterious visitor who holds up a mirror to his failed romances and shows him why he is stuck in place.
From the trials and tribulations of online dating, Fogel, who graduated from Baldwin High School in the 1970s, reveals all his wrong choices in mates and laments growing old by himself and ending his final days by “studying for his prostate exam.”
“It was very serendipitous,” Fogel said of meeting Palminteri. The two had a mutual friend who brought Palminteri to one of Fogel’s shows in Florida. He said Palminteri said he saw the show going places and tossed out the idea of directing it.
“I was excited,” Fogel said. “If anyone could take the show to the next level, it was Chazz, since he wrote the greatest solo show in history.”
Fogel said he wants the show to resonate with viewers, and hopes that the Q&A portion will bring a personal feel to it.
“What was fun was that, besides being a great actor, writer and director, [Palminteri] thinks like a comedian,” he said. “So we were comparing notes. I call him Zeus, and when Zeus talks, you listen.”
The show features on-screen visuals in addition to Fogel’s performance and is sure to touch on the heartstrings — or funny bones — of people from all walks of life, whether they’ve been single their whole lives, married, divorced or widowed.
For more information or to purchase tickets, visit Landmarkonmainstreet.org and www.tildeathdousparttheplay.com/.
