Musical: quando il mondo è un palcoscenico

(teatro di varietà), risultando più scorrevole e di più semplice

comprensione rispetto alla prosa tradizionale.

Il musical nacque proprio negli Stati Uniti perché tra la popolazione

si trovarono numerosi gruppi di immigrati appartenenti ad etnie

differenti i quali, spesso, non parlavano o non conoscevano

l’inglese; questi da subito hanno rappresentato una vasta fetta di

potenziale pubblico perché questo tipo di rappresentazione teatrale

catturava l’interesse del pubblico per una storia che traspariva

chiaramente nello spettacolo e lo affascinava con lo stesso tipo di

emozione circense del varietà.

Partendo da New York e Broadway, nasce una tradizione che si

diffonderà a macchia d'olio, portando la cultura del musical per le

grandi e piccole città degli Stati Uniti. Già negli anni '20 alcuni

spettacoli di Broadway cominciano a raggiungere i teatri del West

End a Londra la quale diventerà la grande capitale europea di

questo genere teatrale.

Bisogna riconoscere che la diffusione del musical è stata agevolata

dalle versioni cinematografiche di Hollywood, che hanno contribuito

alla maggiore conoscenza e popolarità di questo genere. In Italia

non va trascurato il ruolo di divulgazione e promozione svolto

implicitamente dall'animazione turistica. In quasi tutti i villaggi,

infatti, gli spettacoli principali traggono ispirazione dalle grandi

produzioni internazionali. Questa azione ha contribuito decisamente

al diffondersi di una cultura e di una sensibilità verso questa forma

d'arte cha ha creato un clima favorevole alla nascita di significative

produzioni anche in Italia.

I musical possono essere molto diversi tra loro; una volta che è

stato deciso il soggetto della narrazione o il testo di riferimento, è

necessario scegliere il “linguaggio” con cui rappresentarlo sulla

scena. Nel XX secolo, la molteplicità di stili compositivi e modelli ha

dato origine a diverse tipologie di teatro musicale. Una tra queste è

il Book Musical, una rappresentazione che viene costruita partendo

dalla trama di un romanzo, un racconto, un testo teatrale già

esistente oppure da un testo originale. Ne sono esempi a cui io mi

ispirerò: My Fair Lady, Les Misérables e Die Dreigroschenoper.

-My Fair Lady-

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My Fair Lady is an unforgettable theatre experience, transporting

audiences back in time to an astonishingly real Edwardian London.

About the second part of the 40’s-Broadway: the writer and lyricist

Alan Jay Lerner together with the Wiener composer Frederick Loewe

My Fair Lady

created which is based on an already existent play,

George Bernard Shaw’s 1912 “Pygmalion”- that was in turn based

on a classical myth by Ovid in which Pygmalion fell in love with

Galatea, a beautiful female statue.

This adaptation into a new form can actually improve on the

original. In fact, the play not only replaces Pygmalion dramatically,

but provides the work with an ending implied by but missing from

the original play. Lerner not only modifies the final part but he also

lightens the protagonist with a bit of romanticism.

Synopsis: Henry Higgins, a Professor of Phonetics, encounters Eliza

Doolittle, a flower girl who speaks only the Cockney dialect, one

cold March night at Covent Garden market. He declares to his friend

Colonel Pickering that in three months, he could transform Eliza into

a duchess.

Over the course of several months Eliza, who moves into the

Higgins household, is put through a gruelling course of phonetics

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and elocution lessons by Higgins. Eliza's moment of triumph comes

at the Embassy Ball. She is beautiful, elegant and well-spoken and

proves to be an enormous success particularly with the young

gentleman Freddy Eynsford-Hill who falls desperately in love with

her.

After the ball Eliza falls into despondency as she sees Higgins

celebrating his triumph in passing Eliza off as a duchess, showing

little consideration for her feelings. Unnoticed, she slips out of

Higgins' house and seeks consolation with Higgins' mother. Higgins

comes in search of her but Eliza refuses to return with him. Back at

home, Higgins realises that he has become accustomed to Eliza.

But suddenly Eliza reappears. She has forgiven Higgins and has

decided to return.

The enduring character of Eliza Doolittle, a Cockney flower girl who

turns into high society lady, serves as the pivotal role in a musical

which seeks to examine class distinctions, society's prejudices,

Wouldn't It

identity and transformation. Classic musical numbers '

Be Lovely? The Rain in Spain A Hymn to Him

', ' ', and ' ' evoke

and bring to life these essential themes and the musical's diverse

and absorbing characters.

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My Fair Lady has received a great series of Tony Awards and

destroyed every performance scene record till then registered at

Broadway, with almost 3000 performances, almost the same in

London, without counting the other countries of Central Europe &

Russia, Scandinavia, S America, Australia etc.

What the Press said about the musical… “An exquisite

interpretation, completely fresh without being self-consciously

conceptual. The visuals are arresting. My Fair Lady has been called

the perfect musical, and this revival lives up to the legend.”-Kerry

Lengel, The Arizona Republic

"***** (5 out of 5 stars)! Trevor Nunn’s rethinking of “My Fair Lady”

turns it into a grand and refreshing new musical." - Chris Curcio,

KBAQ Theater Critic

Some London reviews:

"It's GLORIOUS... YOU'LL WANT TO DANCE ALL NIGHT"

The Daily Mail, 2001

"IT'S STILL A DREAM MUSICAL - WITH MORE THAN A TOUCH

OF MAGIC ABOUT IT"

Evening Standard, 2001

"THIS FAIR LADY IS A MASTERPIECE"

Evening Standard, 2001

"THE WORLD'S GREATEST SHOW"

BBC, 2001

"PROBABLY THE GREATEST MUSICAL OF ALL TIME"

The Daily Telegraph, 2002

"LERNER AND LOEWE'S DELICIOUSLY CRISP, WITTY, LIBERATE

CREATION"

Daily Express, 2002

"FOR THOSE SEEKING MUSICAL THEATRE AT THE VERY

SUMMIT OF ITS ACHIEVEMENT... MY FAIR LADY

UNDOUBTEDLY REMAINS THE TOP RECOMMENDATION IN

TOWN"

The Daily Telegraph, 2003

6 George Bernard Shaw wrote many different

plays; however, he is most recognized for his famous play

“Pygmalion”. As I have already said, the play depicts a miraculous

transformation from a working-class flower girl to a middle-class

lady, with the help of a professional phonetics teacher. Higgins'

transforms this common flower girl into a graceful lady, just like the

sculptor Pygmalion in the Ovidian legend carved a beautiful statue-

Galatea. Higgins effects this amazing transformation by teaching

Eliza to speak correctly and beautifully.

Shaw's work has proven representative of Victorian society. Shaw

expertly utilizes the opportunity in his play to analyze England's

middle-class Victorian society during the 1900s. Throughout the

play, Shaw exposes many hidden aspects of middle-class society.

On a deeper level, Pygmalion addresses the social ills in England at

the turn of the century. Victorian England was characterized by

extreme class division and there was no social mobility. Language

separated the elite from the lower class. As a matter of fact, Eliza's

dialect inhibits her from procuring a job in a flower shop.

play,

This as a comedy of ideas is concerned with manners and

class. It is a criticism of social barriers and class distinctions and it

upholds the ideal of equal opportunities of wealth and education for

all, regardless of class and gender. Social roles in the Victorian era

were viewed as natural and largely fixed. Liza's ability to fool

society about her "real" identity raises questions about

appearances. It exposes the sham of genteel standards and

examines the real difference between a lady and a flower girl, a

gentleman and a dustman, examines the problems with certain

beliefs held by the people, both men and women, of the Victorian

age. Throughout the play, ladies and gentlemen are continuously

recognized for who they are through different factors such as how

they are dressed, their manners, how they speak, morality or their

money. It is however noticeable that a combination of all factors is

rarely to be found. For instance, Henry Higgins, although well-

dressed, well spoken and with money, has manners which could not

be characterized as genteel. Alfred Doolittle, after acquiring some

money, is well dressed, has some form of manners and could be

classified as rich, yet is not well spoken. When on arrival at Mrs.

Higgins' house, Doolittle is mistaken for a gentleman by the maid,

merely because of the way he is dressed “Doolittle! Do you mean a

dustman?” says Higgins. “Dustman! Oh no sir, a gentleman.” says

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the maid. The appearance of Doolittle is taken into main

consideration when it comes to deciding what class he belongs.

So what really does make a lady or a gentleman? The importance of

appearance and reality is suggested also by Liza's famous

observation: "You see, really and truly, apart from the things

anyone can pick up (the dressing and the proper way of speaking,

and so on), the difference between a lady and a flower girl is not

how she behaves, but how she's treated."

-Les Misérables-

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Les Misérables a touché le cœur de l’audience internationale

comme peu d’autres spectacles ont réussi dans l’entière histoire. La

version originale, française : Alain Boubil et Schönberg sont

retournés au livre pour découvrir les éléments historiques, les

personnages, et l’action qui constitue le drame. Pour commencer ce

projet, qui se base sur un bien connu roman, Schönberg dit, « Tu

dois aimer le livre..« ; « Quand je l’ai lu, j’ai déjà senti la musique«.

Les Misérables nous rappelle que nous sommes tous partie de la

même famille humaine, et que quelles que soient nos différences

apparentes, nos désirs pour la liberté et la paix sont toujours les

mêmes.

Synopsis :

Jean Valjean, un ancien forçat, trouve asile, après une lamentable

vie errante, chez Monseigneur Myriel, évêque de Digne. Il se laisse

tenter par des couverts d'argent et déguerpit à l'aube.

Des gendarmes le reprennent ; mais l'évêque témoigne en sa

faveur et le sauve. Cette générosité le bouleverse. Il cède à une

dernière tentation, puis il devient un honnête homme.

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Fantine a été séduite, puis abandonnée avec sa fillette Cosette.

Arrêtée à la suite d'une dispute, elle est âprement interrogée par le

policier Javert ; mais le maire de la ville M Madeleine, la fait relâcher

Cette clémence, déconcertante de la part d'un magistrat confirme

le soupçon de Javert : M. Madeleine et Valjean ne font qu'un.

Quelques temps plus tard, un malheureux, Champmathieu, est pris

pour l'ancien forçat de nouveau recherché. Après un douloureux

débat intérieur, le vrai Jean Valjean se fait reconnaître en plein

tribunal. Momentanément laissé libre, il assiste à l'agonie de

Fantine et lui jure de veiller sur Cosette : puis il s'échappe et gagne

Paris.

Cosette est servante chez le sinistre Thénardier qui fait fortune en

détroussant les morts de Waterloo. Jean Valjean a été repris par

Javert et réintégré au bagne. Il s'est encore évadé mais tout le

monde le croit noyé. Il revient, arrache Cosette au ménage

Thénardier, se cache avec elle dans une masure, puis à la

communauté de l'adoration Perpétuelle rue de Picpus.

Jean Valjean s'installe rue Plumet sous le nom de Fauchelevent. Il lie

connaissance avec un jeune républicain Marius, qui aime Cosette.

Une fois de plus, arrêté par Javert, il se sauve.

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En 1832, l'émeute gronde rue St-Denis. Sur la barricade, Jean

Valjean lutte avec Marius et le gamin de Paris Gavroche, sous les

ordre de l'étudiant Enjolras. L'ancien forçat se voit confier le

policier Javert : généreusement, il lui rend sa liberté, puis sauve

Marius blessé. Celui-ci guéri, épouse Cosette ;

Jean Valjean a rempli, jusqu’au bout sa promesse à Fantine. Quand

il meurt, les chandeliers de l’évêque sont allumés à son chevet.

Le musical du Boubil et Schönberg avec les vers

du Herbert Kretzmer s’est répandu dans le monde entier (Tokyo,

Budapest, Sidney, Reikjavik, Oslo, Vienna, Toronto, Prague,

Copenhagen, Madrid, Stockholm, Paris, Amsterdam, Singapore,

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Hong Kong, USA, Japan, Canada, Austria, UK) et a gagné plusieurs