I saw Chazz Palminteri doing his one-man version of “A Bronx Tale” in 2021 at the Garde Arts Center, and here’s part of what I wrote: “It’s a triumph of acting — there’s nothing like a one-person production to highlight a performer’s true range.”

See what I mean when Palminteri brings that show back to the Garde on Saturday.

Before he starred in “The Usual Suspects” and “Bullets Over Broadway,” Palminteri was trying to get a break in showbiz. He wrote his own one-man show based on his childhood. When Hollywood wanted to buy the story, he held firm: He would be the lead writer on the movie version, and he’d play the gangster Sonny in it. Even as the financial offers increased, he wouldn’t budge.

Then Robert De Niro stepped in. He had seen Palminteri in “A Bronx Tale.” He loved it. He wanted to make it into a movie — with Palminteri playing Sonny, De Niro playing the character based on Palminteri’s father, and De Niro directing.

That 1993 film was a hit, and Palminteri’s career really took off.

“A Bronx Tale,” 8 p.m. Saturday, Garde Arts Center, 325 State St., New London; $29 to $69 plus fees; gardearts.org.