Tony Danzas NYC cabaret at is a sell-out at the…
Tony Danza still thinks about the evening Frank Sinatra yelled at him — 30 years in the past.
“I was singing to him,” Danza recalled of Ol’ Blue Eyes’ 1995 televised eightieth birthday tribute, speaking to The Post while sitting amidst a flurry of Frank memorabilia in his Upper West Side residence.
“Back then, I didn’t really sing — except for in the shower. But Frank liked my performance, though afterwards it looked like he was losing his balance, because he was perched on these high steps. So I put my hands under him and then he threw his elbow back and almost got me in the chin,” he said.
The Chairman of the Board turned and snarled.
Tony Danza shares tales from his prolonged profession — and his storied relationship with Frank Sinatra — in his current cabaret act at Cafe Carlyle in NYC. Tamara Beckwith
“Back off! What’s your problem?” Danza remembers him saying.
The “Who’s the Boss” and “Taxi” actor was shocked — but Sinatra’s burly longtime confidante Jilly Rizzo said to just shrug it off.
“He pulls me aside and said, ‘Don’t worry about it, Tony. That’s how you know Frank likes you.’”
Snag your self a ticket to Danza’s standard and sometimes sold-out NYC cabaret show, “Sinatra and Stories,” and that’s just one of many tales from the good previous days you may hear.
Sinatra’s look on Danza’s hit sitcom, “Who’s The Boss?” was a spotlight of their prolonged friendship.
Currently packing Café Carlyle at The Carlyle evening after evening with dates through Oct. 2, the efficiency options Danza accompanied by a four-piece band, regaling the crowd with Sinatra tunes and tales from his friendship with the legendary crooner — with some faucet dancing and ukulele-playing in the combine.
“What I try to do is mirror those old variety shows where you have a host and all of the acts,” Danza said of the efficiency, which he launched last yr and introduced back due to standard demand.
“But in this, I’m both the host and all of the acts. It’s a little of this and a little bit of that.”
And why Sinatra, as a theme?
“They say write what you know.”
You make me really feel so younger
Danza performs his “Sinatra and Stories” cabaret show at Cafe Carlyle, at the Carlyle Hotel on NYC’s Upper East Side. Tamara Beckwith
Long before the 74-year-old Danza skyrocketed to stardom on breakout sitcom “Taxi” in 1978, he was just a child from Brooklyn who would often hear Sinatra’s songs echo throughout the household’s East New York home.
“My mother, when I was a young kid, turned me onto Frank and got me excited about him,” Danza told The Post.
“And throughout high school and college, I sang along with his records like the rest of us.”
After shifting to Long Island as a teen, he got interested in boxing, later scoring a wrestling scholarship to attend Iowa’s University of Dubuque.
Danza, now 74, first rocketed to stardom as Tony Banta in the hit Seventies sitcom, “Taxi.” ©Paramount/Courtesy Everett Collection
He soon discovered himself training at Gleason’s Gym — where Muhammad Ali also threw punches at the time. It was during a boxing match that a producer scouted Tony to pursue appearing.
“By some miracle, when I got out to Hollywood, I ended up being in Frank’s circle,” Danza recalled with a sustained sense of awe. “It was really kind of crazy.”
By then, the singer had been retired for years, but was scorching once again after returning to the stage in spectacular fashion with 1974’s “Main Event” — a boxing-themed comeback live performance at Madison Square Garden concocted by Jerry Weintraub.
Come fly with me
“By some miracle, when I got out to Hollywood, I ended up being in Frank’s circle,” Danza said. “It was really kind of crazy.” Tamara Beckwith
The careers of the two personalities soon wound up dovetailing reasonably neatly — Danza’s movie debut, 1983’s “Cannonball Run II,” occurred to be Sinatra’s last film credit. (Dean Martin’s, too.)
Danza soon endeared himself to the Hoboken native — that is, after he acquired over being starstruck.
“When I saw him, I probably referred to him as ‘Mr. Sinatra.’ It was so hard to call him just Frank,” he said.
“He had an aura when he walked into the room — there was always a hush,” he remembered. “Most occasions, I just didn’t say something, you understand?
Danza is bringing his show back to Cafe Carlyle a second time, to sold-out crowds, through Oct. 2. Tamara Beckwith
“But one night in a booth, I girded myself and said, ‘Uh, Frank?’ And he looked up and answered me.”
Soon, they have been hanging out like previous friends — Danza told The Post about an night the pair have been sitting by a pool, Sinatra ingesting Jack Daniels, his favourite — Humphrey Bogart turned him onto it. In between gulps, he was also chain-smoking Camels.
Feeling brave, the fledgling star had a query: “I said, ‘Does the drinking and the smoking mess with your voice?’”
Sinatra took a sip, then a puff, and turned to him.
“‘I’ve never met a singer worth his shit who didn’t smoke two packs a day,’” he shrugged.
Frank’s the ‘Boss’
Danza shares a second with “Who’s The Boss” co-star Judith Light. ©Columbia Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection
One of the best days of his life, Danza said, was the time he acquired to introduce his mom to the “My Way” singer on the set of “Who’s the Boss” in 1989, where Sinatra, guest-starring on the traditional sitcom, gifted her his handkerchief.
Famously impatient, solid and crew have been shocked by the famous person’s relaxed angle while filming an episode where Danza’s character, Tony Micelli, will get kicked out of a celebration where Sinatra was to carry out.
Eventually, Micelli will get to meet his idol — while getting a drink at the bar.
“How does it feel to be worshipped and adored by millions?” Danza’s wide-eyed alter-ego requested.
“Nice,” Sinatra coolly replied.
And while thousands and thousands can’t match into the intimate Carlyle, at present celebrating its seventieth anniversary, Danza’s followers are worshipping and adoring his latest act — main to 24 sold-out reveals in a row in its current run.
“For a long time I couldn’t get into the place, and then my manager called me to say that they wanted me to perform there in less than a month,” he remembers of the short discover of his initial engagement.
“I said, ‘Wait, did somebody drop out?’ He said, ‘Do you want the job or not?’
“I can’t believe people come to see me. Are you kidding me? Sometimes I’m amazed — you walk in through the back and pass all of the people; they really pack them in. It’s self-affirming,” he admitted. “It really is.”
It was a excellent yr
Danza’s cabaret act has been an occasional fixture on the New York nightlife scene through the years — right here, he rehearses for a 1997 show at the Rainbow Room. 1.21.97
Besides basking in the glow of a prolonged and rewarding profession, Danza also retains busy these days with his Stars of Tomorrow Project, an NYC-based group offering mentorship and free appearing, voice, dance and motion classes to youths in need.
“I’m a big believer that, unfortunately, in our country today, we’ve abdicated responsibility for nurturing our children,” he said, turning critical for a second.
“I think it’s really important we give them something else to be interested in — rather than things that could lead to a gun or something.”
Already, program alumnae are making good — with some even headed for Broadway.
“We’ve got a whole bunch of kids who have gone to college,” Danza said of the charity, which is able to maintain its third annual benefit at the Sheen Center in Greenwich Village on Oct 14. He’ll co-chair the night with an equally legendary former co-star — Danny DeVito.
Danza with “Taxi” co-stars Carol Kane (counter-clockwise from left), Christopher Lloyd and Judd Hirsch in 2023 at Manny’s Bistro in NYC. Tony Danza / Instagram
Tony’s New York
When not busy entertaining his followers at the Carlyle, listed here are some of Danza’s favourite Big Apple nightspots.
Patsy’s Italian Restaurant
Patsy’s is a fave for Danza — and was particular for Sinatra, too. Stefano Giovannini
Danza gravitates to the old-school red-sauce joint just off Columbus Circle — an Italian mainstay since its 1944 opening, and famously a Sinatra hang-out. “I’ve known the family forever,” he says of the Scognamillos, including father Joe and son Sal. “Frank loved that place, and I do, too.”
236 W. 56th St.
Manny’s Bistro
Danza has gone viral on TikTok after performing impromptu Sunday afternoon units exterior this old style French restaurant identified for its live music. “Aside from the band, the food is incredible.”
225 Columbus Ave.
54 Below
Danza is identified to catch a show at the standard Midtown cabaret spot, identified for often internet hosting Broadway crooners and veteran acts. “I think it’s one of the great places of all time; not only to play, but because of what they do,” he says of proprietor Michael Feinstein, the well-known champion of the Great American Songbook.
254 W. 54th St.
Gallagher’s Steakhouse
Danza counts Gallagher’s as a go-to date spot. Stephen Yang
“If I’m going on a date, I’ll go Gallagher’s,” winks Danza of the practically century-old Meatpacking District hang-out. Naturally, it has a showbiz pedigree — the fabled spot was opened by Helen Gallagher, a former Ziegfeld woman.
228 W. 52nd St.
Frankie and Johnnie’s Steakhouse
“It’s really wonderful,” Danza says of his other favourite steakhouse — which began as a speakeasy and next yr celebrates 100 years in business. “It’s right on Restaurant Row. If you take someone there, they would be really impressed.”
320 W. forty sixth St.
Sardi’s
Another Broadway legend, Danza was anointed with his caricature on the wall when he starred in the Max Bialystock function in Mel Brooks’ musical comedy “The Producers” in 2007. “I wrote ‘Fix!’ on it above my signature, which was stupid. I guess it made sense to me at the time.”
234 W. forty fourth St.
Birdland
Audience members wait to enter for a show at Birdland this summer time. Christopher Sadowski
For simple jazz, Danza favors Birdland. The circa-1949 music and tremendous membership was named after Charlie Parker and was previously a hang-out of the likes of Miles Davis and John Coltrane, who are often honored in its current live programming.
315 W. forty fourth St.
Bemelmans Bar
Bemelmans Bar, that includes bartender Sharif (above), is a fave of Danza’s — as nicely as its increasing clientele. Stefano Giovannini for NY Post
“The most amazing thing is how the demographics have changed here in recent years,” Danza muses of the inflow of influencers at the other legendary hideaway tucked into the luxe Carlyle Hotel. “It’s a mix of everybody, and a hotspot now among young people. You can’t get in the place!”
35 E. 76th St.
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