Emotional Guy, Speaking for Others
By FELICIA R. LEE
Danny Aiello, a big guy with a big New Yawk accent, is best known for roles like Sal, the boisterous pizzeria owner in Spike Lee’s 1989 film, “Do the Right Thing,” which won him an Oscar nomination. In the play “The Shoemaker,” which is now in previews and opens on Sunday at the Acorn Theater, Mr. Aiello is a different kind of New Yorker. A wounded immigrant, he seethes with rage and sadness in the title role of an Italian Jewish shoemaker named Giuseppe, holed up in his shop in Hell’s Kitchen on 9/11, trying to shut out the chaos outside and the memories of loss it ignites.

A two-act drama by Susan Charlotte, directed by Antony Marsellis, “The Shoemaker” began life as a one-act play in 2001, and Mr. Aiello starred in it last summer, also at the Acorn. And it became a 2007 film, “A Broken Sole,” with the same three creative partners in place.

Mr. Aiello, 78, whose film career took off in 1973 with “Bang the Drum Slowly,” went on to make dozens of films, including “Moonstruck” in 1987. His long list of theater credits include Biggie the bartender in “Lamppost Reunion,” and others in “Hurlyburly” and “The House of Blue Leaves.” Mr. Aiello is also a singer, touring with an eight-piece jazz band. He is working on a one-man musical about the life of Al Capone.

In a recent interview in Manhattan he talked about “The Shoemaker,” coping with loss and his approach to his craft. The following are edited excerpts.
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