“I invite you to say that you can go to the theater, which is safe. All this confusion only scares the public. And the numbers in these first two months of the season are terrible.” Alessandro Longobardi, artistic director of the Brancaccio Theater, does not mince his words, who after a big hit like Enrico Brignano and the crazy laughs of What a disaster by Peter Pan, is preparing to debut Aladin – The brilliant musical, the show (of which he is also producer) conceived and directed by Maurizio Colombi, on stage for all Christmas holidays, from 2 December to 9 January. “A gift to families”, says the director, who after having already signed his versions of Rapunzel, Heidi, Peter Pan and The Ice Queen, is now inspired by the tale of the Thousand and One Nights. “No one, not even Disney, says that originally there are two genes: the genie of the lamp and the genie of the ring, Thor and Nello. They are the sons of Mother Gea – he says – the goddess of the earth who sends them from Olympus to help Genghis Kan but since they are bunglers they end up relegated to the lamp. To go out, they will have to fulfill only altruistic wishes “. In the shoes of the two geniuses, Umberto Noto and Michele Savoia. But obviously there is no shortage of Aladin and his Jasmine (Giovanni Abbracciavento and Emanuela Rei), the perfidious Jafar (Maurizio Semeraro) in a whirlwind of Bollywood-style ballets, belly dancing, Tibetan bridges and 24 changes of scene from the sumptuous palace of the sultan to the shop by Aladin. “You can go to the theater – continues Longobardi – Especially in large theaters because they have a greater volume of air. Here at Brancaccio, we have a new plant that manages to kill 80-90% of bacteria and viruses. I understand that in Italy there is a “It is a very strong pressure – he continues – probably to get people to get vaccinated, but this generates confusion. I’m back now from Budapest: there the theaters are full, in compliance with the rules. Here, I don’t know what will happen in the future, but for the first two months of the season we have terrible numbers “, in a continuous ups and downs, he explains, between announcements of new variants and Super green pass. “At the theater – he says – if you burn November-December, you burn the season. We weren’t expecting who knows what but if the forecasts of 55-60% of flows are reduced to 25-30%, how do you go on? at the supermarket we are more exposed to the virus. Then we do everything to ensure safety “. But then, was it worth returning to full capacity? “To tell the truth, we were undecided whether to program Aladin or to resume him next season – he admits – But we thought of the actors, who could not stand still any longer, and of the public, so that they do not forget what it means to come to the theater”. In January, he remembers, new applications for three-year public funding need to be presented. “The State must completely review its position towards the Italian theater – he underlines – I am not thinking of public theaters, which have their subsidies, but the abandoned theater, that world that now lives in battle and occasionally manages to take a ban. But the tenders cost and the Lazio Region doesn’t even make many “. And then, in order to survive, “you end up making commercial choices. Instead you should just take good people. A capital deserves this, as well as long estates and theaters that become workshops. Look, I don’t know anyone who does this job for the money. But there is a limit to everything “. Among the increases of “44% of the bills”, costs borne by the managers “like the 15 people to check the green passes at the Brignano show”, there is also a city, Rome, which “is running out” and where Milan of tenders and patronage, it seems very far away. “In three years – says Longobardi – we have not even received an offer of Art Bonus”. No repentance though. “We do it responsibly, our strength is also a political act. But – he warns – where there is no theater, where there is no live show, indifference, boredom, violence grows. Theater instead it makes us think, it also makes other theater do. We must support this battle every day. We need continuous pressure, for months, because culture is an induced good: demand does not exist, it is supply that generates more demand ” .
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Source From: Ansa
I have been working in the news industry for over 10 years now and I have worked for some of the biggest news websites in the world. My focus has always been on entertainment news, but I also cover a range of other topics. I am currently an author at Global happenings and I love writing about all things pop-culture related.
