Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts at Brooklyn College continues its 2016-17 season on Sunday, November 20, 2016 at 3pm with Emmy-nominated song-and-dance man Tony Danza performing his newest one-man show, Standards & Stories. Accompanied by his talented four-piece band, Brooklyn-born Danza will perform a selection of his favorite standards from the Great American Songbook, including "My Way," "Pennies from Heaven," "I'll be Seeing You," and "It Was a Very Good Year," along with selections from the hit Broadway musical Honeymoon in Vegas (in which Danza starred), while interweaving stories about his life and personal connection to the music.
Tickets are $36-$55 and can be purchased at BrooklynCenter.org or by calling the box office at 718-951-4500 (Tue-Sat, 1pm-6pm).
““He exudes the kind of charisma that can’t be taught because it’s part of who he is.””
About Tony Danza
Best known for starring on some of television's most beloved and long-running series, including Taxi (1978-1983) and Who's the Boss? (1984-1992), Tony Danza has also established himself as a stage and screen star, and has indisputably been one of America's most iconic and beloved performers for over thirty years.
Born and raised in Brooklyn, Danza received a wrestling scholarship to the University of Dubuque in Iowa, where he earned a bachelor's degree in history education. Before finding a job teaching, he found himself earning a living as professional boxer. While training in a boxing gymnasium in New York, Danza was "discovered" and ultimately cast in the critically acclaimed ABC series Taxi, earning him a place in television history and making him a household name. He followed Taxi with a starring role in the classic ABC comedy series Who's the Boss?, which ran for eight seasons and broke all syndication records.
Eventually Tony explored his love for the stage, and among his many stage credits is his exciting run on Broadway in Mel Brooks' hit musical The Producers, playing Max Bialystock (2006-2007), and his reprise of the role in the Las Vegas production at Paris Las Vegas (2007). For his theatrical debut in Wrong Turn at Lungfish (1993), he earned an Outer Critic's Circle Award nomination. Other stage credits include the critically acclaimed The Iceman Cometh, opposite Kevin Spacey, Arthur Miller's Tony Award-winning play A View from the Bridge, and I Remember You.
Most recently, Tony returned to the stage in the hit musical Honeymoon In Vegas, which started at the Paper Mill Playhouse before moving to Broadway. Both the show and Tony's performance received amazing reviews, including a love letter from The New York Times, which compares Tony's performance to "the cooler-than-cool spirit" of Frank Sinatra.
Tony also recently returned to the big-screen and received great buzz and fantastic reviews for his performance as Joseph Gordon Levitt's father in Levitt's much buzzed and acclaimed directorial debut, Don Jon. The film, which stars Levitt, Danza, Julianne Moore, Brie Larson, and Scarlett Johansson, was released in theaters in the fall of 2013.
Among Tony's previous television experience is his role as attorney Joe Celano on the CBS dramatic series Family Law (2000-2002), his Emmy-nominated performance on David E. Kelley's award-winning series The Practice (1998), and ABC's The Tony Danza Show, a talk show that was broadcast live in New York from 2004-2006. He also starred in and executive-produced the ABC comedy series Hudson Street, NBC's The Tony Danza Show, hosted Saturday Night Live several times and hosted numerous award shows, including the 2001 Miss America Pageant and the 2003 People's Choice Awards.
Amongst Tony's big-screen credits are his roles in Walt Disney's Angels in the Outfield, She's Out of Control, The Hollywood Knights, and A Brooklyn State of Mind.
In 2009-2010, Tony took on his most challenging role yet-teaching tenth-grade English at Philadelphia's Northeast High School. His amazing experience working as a real teacher was taped and aired on A&E last year in the form of the critically acclaimed seven-part documentary series, entitled Teach. In September 2012, Crown Publishers (a division of Random House) releases Tony's book, I'd Like to Apologize to Every Teacher I Ever Had: My Year as a Rookie Teacher at Northeast High, a much buzzed about and critically acclaimed reflection of his experience teaching for a year. The book premiered on the New York Times Best Sellers list at number 16 and stayed on the list for two months. The paperback edition hit bookstores in September of 2013.
In 2010, AARP The Magazine, the definitive voice for 50+ Americans and the world's largest-circulation magazine with more than 35 million readers, presented Tony with their Inspire Award. The Inspire Awards pay tribute to extraordinary people who inspire others to action through their innovative thinking, passion and perseverance.
In December of 2012, Tony was amongst the iconic celebrities who participated in the Weinstein Company's historic concert for Hurricane Sandy Relief at Madison Square Garden. He was featured in the documentary about the concert, released by the Weinstein Company in the fall of 2013, in which Tony reminds people of the forgotten motto of America, "E pluribus unum," or "out of many one," or as Tony's father would say, "we're all in this together, pal." It's with great belief in the spirit of that motto that Tony participates in many charity efforts.
In April of 2013, USA Today honored Tony at their annual National Make A Difference Day Awards for his commitment to helping others through his numerous charity efforts.
Tony currently lives in New York City.
Tony Danza: Standards & Stories is part of Brooklyn Center's 2016-17 Con Edison Music Masters Series, which also includes The Dr. Lonnie Smith Trio (Feb 25, 2017 at 8pm), Emeline Michel in concert (Mar 4, 2017 at 8pm), Patti Austin: Happy 100th, Ella! (Apr 22, 2017 at 8pm), and the Yosvany Terry Afro-Cuban Sextet (May 6, 2017 at 8pm).