Romano, who is starring in the upcoming NBC series, “Kristin,” co-starring Tony-Award winning Kristin Chenoweth, and the long running CBS hit comedy, “King Of Queens”, who has also seen two of his plays staged Off Broadway and in Los Angeles local theatre, is half serious.
A major part of his life, and passion, is devoted to Romano’s music. His playing (drums), singing, songwriting.. and his groups.
Yes, groups. Another plural for Romano, a musical double threat with two bands - Deficit and Eljay Are.
Both have recently released CDs on the market and both run the bases musically between roots rock and Urban Folk/R&B, all powerfully delivered with an aggressive New York attitude.
An attitude much like Romano himself - New York-born and retaining all of the elements of his roots to date.
This attitude is reflected in his song, “The House That Ruth Built,” separately released. It is a track that will win no fans in high places (specifically corporate sky boxes or New York Yankees boss, George Steinbrenner). Romano calls it a “love song” for the memories of days at the grand old ballpark in the Bronx.” It is a fan’s scream against tearing down venerable old baseball stadiums, replete with history and memory. Under a repetitive groove of “Nobody rocks like we rock the Bronx,” Romano warns “And Steingrabber [sic] wants to take a 75-year tradition and move it to a swamp in New Jersey.”
Not your typical rock lyric!
But then, Larry Romano is not your typical musician. Or actor. About his new show, “Kristin,” Romano notes: “I’m thankful I’m doing this show where I’m playing an Italian-American who’s intelligent and not a criminal. Because that might be a first!”
Romano sees a parallel here with his own family: “My father was a successful, hard working guy in the garment business in New York, oldest of his brothers, all born from humble beginnings and all ended up being very successful. And none of them went to jail. Being grounded in the Italian-American stereotype, that’s the part that America doesn’t see.”
To accommodate his work on the “Kristin” series, Romano’s third season of “King Of Queens” (he plays fireman Richie Iannuci) will see him appearing as his popular character in a slightly modified role during the season (even though his character’s love life heats up with the addition of Rikki Lake on the show). This will allow him to move between CBS and the Paramount lot where “Kristin” is taped. “I’m very fortunate,” he says, “and well aware of the difficulties that other actors face.”
For Romano, preparation for this existence has included working in his father’s garment factory in Mt. Vernon, NY, moonlighting as a delivery boy at Pat’s Pizzeria in Tappan, NY, before heading to Manhattan to obtain a degree in Mixology from the American Bartending School of Madison Avenue, driving a gypsy cab, working as telephone salesman for American Business Products, a copy machine company and (”apart from acting, the most dangerous,” he says) a bicycle messenger.
“That’s fairly typical of an actor waiting around, trying to get a foot in the business,” he reflects. But music came first - and early - for Romano.
He was playing his first drum set at age six. He spent time in a variety of teenage rock bands, including one with boyhood friend, Danny Spitz, who went on to found heavy metal hit makers, Anthrax, and his high school orchestra (not marching band, he points out) where he played a full set of tympani. He observes: “My teen years were a time of just trolling around trying to start my own band, going to these rehearsal rooms in Manhattan, playing drums and sitting in with anybody, anywhere. Acting was not on my mind.”
Acting, however, entered his life during his time as a salesman in his father’s showroom. “I did it for about three months, in a suit, on the train every day, out at night to Chinatown to pick up the merchandise because business wasn’t good and we had to resort to non-union work.” It also included some unpleasant encounters (”I saw some mighty large and feisty rodents”) that turned his attentions elsewhere.
By chance, he wandered into Manhattan’s The Learning Annex in search of piano lessons but instead ended up in a TV commercials class. He says: “The teacher told me I could be a John Travolta-type.
I’d seen ‘Saturday Night Fever’ years before and had thought, yeah, I could do that. Now, here’s this lady saying the same thing.”
Next step was more serious-the venerable Lee Strasberg Theatrical Institute where he resisted some attempts to make him change his distinctive, NY-grown, ethnic voice patterns.
Romano discovered another talent within himself when he attended the Strasberg writer’s workshop. The Institute presented his first play, “We Ain’t Kids No More,” where Romano discovered he could translate the scenes and characters from his life to the printed page and eventually to the stage. “I learned to write about things closest to me,” he says.
An Off Broadway production of “Suitcase of Memories” followed and, from this, a casting director signed him for role of character First Base in the Sylvester Stallone movie, “Lock Up.
Romano’s filmography grew. Roles in such movies as “Black Rain,” “Out For Justice,” “City Hall,” “Sleepers” and more. He played Al Pacino’s drug addicted son in “Donnie Brasco”and seemed all set for stardom in Terence Malick’s highly regarded, “The Thin Red Line,” which involved location work in Australia. “I was there for five months filming and then, back in New York, I got a phone call from Malick apologizing that most of my scenes had been cut,” he says.
“I ended up with one scene and a hell of a vacation reel.”
Television came calling. Romano played a mob killer in early “NYPD Blue” episodes, a pizza guy on “Mad About You,” a sex-crazed boxer on “L.A. Law” and then landed his “King Of Queens” role.
Now relocated in Los Angeles, Romano finds time - in a very crowded schedule - to concentrate on his two bands, the hard rocking Deficit and Eljay Are, which is popular on college radio.

It is a serious part of Romano’s life and he resists criticism that he should focus on one band and one musical form to the exclusion of all else. “Why can’t a music guy do all the different kinds of music - actors do it all the time, playing different roles. The point is the music I play and write is all part of me.
I grew up listening to everything rock, the Motown grooves, R&B/pop, rap,” he comments. Another reason for the Romano attitude towards music is that he can afford to do this now. His TV work and film roles support his bands. “I support these groups - pay recording expenses, etc, because it’s the only way I can remain independent and thrive,” he says. “Most importantly, I want to work with the people that I want to work with, write the songs that I want to write, and wear the clothes that I want to wear. The TV money helps me do that just fine.”