DeNiro, Menken in for 'Bronx Tale' musical

It's official: Robert DeNiro is helming a musical adaptation of A Bronx Tale — with a little help from some musical theater veterans.

DeNiro and four-time Tony Award winner Jerry Zaks will co-direct the world premiere of the show, based on Chazz Paiminteri's one-man play — previously adapted into a 1993 film directed by and co-starring DeNiro — at New Jersey's Paper Mill Playhouse in February. Zaks, whose many Broadway credits include the original Grease and revivals of Guys and Dolls, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum and La Cage Aux Folles, also directed Palminteri in the 2007 Broadway debut of the play Tale.

The new A Bronx Tale will also feature a score by the Tony- and multiple-Oscar-winning composer Alan Menken (Beauty and the Beast, Little Shop of Horrors, Newsies) with lyrics by Glenn Slater, Menken's partner on stage adaptations of The Little Mermaid and Sister Act, among other shows. Palminteri is writing the book.

The production is set to run in Milburn, N.J., Feb. 4 to March 6.