One year after staging an off-Broadway, one-act version of The Shoemaker; Academy Award nominated actor Danny Aiello returns to the Acorn Theatre (410 W. 42nd Street) with a two-act rendition of the play.

The premiere of Susan Charlotte's The Shoemaker, directed by Antony Marsellis took place on Sunday July 24. The show will run until August 14th.

Set in New York's Hell's Kitchen, Aiello takes on the role of an Italian-Jew, who was sent to America by his father in the late 1930's. The play is a compelling drama that focuses on a shoemaker, on a devastating day that has become a turning point in American history. As each hour passes he confronts yet another part of his past, present and his uncertain future.

This stage drama was made into a film called A Broken Sole starring Aiello, Margaret Colin, Bob Dishy, Judith Light, Laila Robins and John Shea. An earlier one-act stage version of The Shoemaker starring Danny Aiello was presented Off-Broadway (July 2010) and played to sold-out audiences.

TimesSquare.com's Joey Franco had the chance to chat with the screen legend about his latest stage project.

TimesSquare.com: Tell us a little about the play The Shoemaker, which premiered just a few days ago. How did this project come about?

Danny Aiello: Susan Charlotte is the writer, and I had worked with her in this group called food for thought in which she would do readings of one-act plays. She asked me once to do View from the Bridge, which I did... and that's when we met. This was about six and a half years ago. Then she came across this play she had written, a one-act play called The Broken Sole.

We did a motion picture which was part of a trilogy that consisted of two other pieces. Ours was approximately 37 minutes long... but we thought we were on to something, so I said to her [Charlotte] that it would be good if you wrote a full length about this subject. She expanded the subject, not only to be about 9/11 but also about the Finzi-Contini, which were the Italian Jews which happened to be living in Rome in the late 30s.

TS: So if I understand correctly, the whole story takes place on September 11th?

DA: Yes, everything takes place on that day [9/11] and everything else that that you may see, may or may not be a dream sequence... I'd rather not say.

TS: When I look at the evolution of this story... this started off as a film [A Broken Sole], then there was the one-act play that was put on last year, and now it has come back as a two-act play. What differences are there between the film, the one-act play, and the current play in terms of storyline?

DA: The one-act play did not consist of the holocaust, and also there are voices that I developed in the play... we have sounds in the theatre where you'll hear Nazis screaming, and it permeates throughout the theatre because what I was trying to do was to give the people the opportunity of knowing what those Nazis might have been yelling. So you'll hear all sorts of effects that we didn't have in the original play, nor did we have in the movie.

The movie was accepted quite well, it was reviewed well, however very few people saw it because there was no p&a... we had no print and advertising money. But it's really a sweet movie which involves other acts. However the movie is not as combustible as the current play.

TS: This production has only been running for a few days now... how have audiences responded so far?

DA: We sell out every night, the preview shows were sold out, and so was the opening of course. Every night we have a Q&A after the show and we get more than three quarters of the audience that stay. They stay for the Q&A and they will not remove themselves until we call it.

TS: What do you think draws these audiences, is it because Danny Aiello is in the play... is it the compelling storyline?

DA: I think I mean something to some people but my feeling is the subject matter and knowing that it's about 9/11... and people have definite feelings about it and I suppose that each individual has their own feelings and how they felt on that day. If I tell you... you hear sobs in the audience. If I tell you that on the second preview show I saw what appeared to be white flags off to the side... and they were handkerchiefs. During the Q&A I said, I thought you people were surrendering with white flags [laughing].

TS: You were quoted as saying that this was the role of a lifetime, which is a very powerful statement considering you've had a very impressive career throughout your life.

DA: One minute he's a little funny, the next minute he's crying, the next minute he's powerful and verbally violent, and the next he's physically violent when he begins to throw shoes, when he realizes that people are not coming back. He realizes the devastation of what has just happened on that day... which he tried to conceal from himself. He wouldn't try to turn on a radio that would have the news. He just couldn't take it. When he found out that this was happening, when the buildings were burning, and people were jumping out of windows... he began throwing shoes across the stage, against the wall. Maybe 100 pairs of shoes... that's the physical violence that you'll see, other than that there's no violence taking place against any other person.

There's also tremendous monologues in it, but there's also soft speaking. As a character, there are tremendous demands

TS: So it's a very character driven play.

DA: Yes, absolutely. It may not be for everyone The one thing that I know when I'm on that stage is that the audience is rocked! That audience is brought to tears. Yes I have made that statement, and I will not go back on it. I've had some wonderful roles, I've had EMMYS, I've had an Academy Award nomination, and any of those roles that I've had significant coverage and all sorts of kudos, in my opinion does not compare to this role!

Not even the film A Broken Sole compares. What we did in the film as compared to what we're doing on the stage is tame; T-A-M-E! It's a labor of joy for me... and it is a labor it's very difficult each night, but the feelings is like an exorcism for me because I have a lot of hatred about what happened on 9/11, and a lot of tragedies that occurred in this country.

Tickets are $66.25 and can be purchased at www.Telecharge.com or by calling (212) 239-6200. Each performance will be followed with a Q & A with Mr. Aiello.

www.dannyaiello.com

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