Joel said no to ‘Tale’ as twice-told

BJoel says he was asked to do the score for “A Bronx Tale” the musical, but turned it down because he’d already been there and done that. “They originally asked me if I would do the music,” Joel (inset) told us at a Peggy Siegal-organized party for Robert De Niro’s new film, “The Comedian.” “I didn’t say no at first, but I realized I had already done that kind of thing. I’d done an album called ‘An Innocent Man,’ which was kind of an homage to that era, and I just felt like it would be redundant if I would have done it again. I had a lot of work otherwise so they got Alan Menken, and he did a good job.” Like “A Bronx Tale,” Joel’s “An Innocent Man” is an ode to the sounds of the late 1950s and early ’60s and was heavily inspired by soul music. The album, released in 1983, produced hits including the Smokey Robinsoninspired “Leave a Tender Moment Alone,” the Frankie Valli-influenced “Uptown Girl” and the chart-topping doo-wop tune “The Longest Time.”

Another era that will eventually come to an end is Joel’s monthly residency at Madison Square Garden, which started in January 2014. The Piano Man is slated to play his 39th consecutive concert there in March.

“It has to end,” he said. “As long as there’s a ticket demand, we’re going to keep playing, but I’m just assuming that there’s got to be an arc to it where it tapers off. We’re at the end of three years.”

According to Joel, it was just a coincidence that we ran into him at the Plaza Anthenee hotel event honoring De Niro.

“I just came down for a glass of wine and all this megillah’s going on,” he said. “I just saw (all these people) last night at ‘A Bronx Tale.’ Funny small town.”