MASSA-CARRARA -It will be a kind of ‘colossal’ just thinking about the scenography created with extreme attention and care and which will meticulously reproduce an entire world: the world of the quarries in the early years of the last century. On stage, with more than 10 meters of plywood and 1.5 meters of height, the 17 meters of the marble monolith will be reproduced, the one intended for the Mussolini Forum which at the time, in 1929, 36 pairs of oxen barely managed to transport from the quarries to the port. It will be a ‘colossal’ thanks to the effort of all those who participated, first and foremost the 45 actors-singers-dancers, plus the team of competitors who gave their contribution to make the scene of the historic competition of the monolith more real, plus the three incredible volunteer set designers who rebuilt the cellars, the quarry, the town square (inspired by Colonnata), and the interiors of bourgeois and quarrymen’s homes.
‘Without wings nor glory’ by the award-winning school of musicals in Italy and abroad, Clacsonbeauty, is thus preparing to enjoy deserved success and sold out. The premiere will be staged at the Guglielmi Theater on 15 and 16 June (9.15 pm), and then repeated at the Lazzareschi quarry on 1 August. Just to set up the entire scenography it will take a day and a half. With fine carpentry work, buckets for water, wheelbarrows, hammers were created, the fruit and vegetables for the market scene were made with papier-mâché, the facades of the houses, their interiors, the rough wall were made with papier-mâché and fibreglass. of quarry. All done by hand. On stage there will be various figures linked to the quarry: the squarer, the teacher and the bagascio, in addition to the 5 ‘real’ lizers. The story, we remember, moves to the music of Walt Disney’s Argentine author Pablo Flore Torres and to the plot woven by Maria Corsini, the artistic director of the academy. “In those years, the biggest crisis was hitting, we had just emerged from the First World War, we were in the middle of the economic crisis, in Carrara there had been the failure of Fabbricotti and fascism arrived: in this context – explains Maria Corsini – the monolith opens up hope for recovery, it can represent a breath of fresh air and everyone wanted to be there to make history.”
The show will last two hours and will feature, on stage, the students of the academy and two professional singers: Massimo Gentili who comes from the world of opera and Emiliano Geppetti, who comes from musicals.
However, a special mention must go to the three non-professional but absolutely talented set designers: Roberto Corsini who in life is a mechanical designer and who has demonstrated a natural inclination for scenographic art, while for objects it is Giovanna Bonaldi, thanks to her experience at the Bottega della Cartapesta in Viareggio where he makes souvenirs, to give an elegant proof. To help them, there was Francesco Sassi. Unfortunately, from a scenographic point of view, Maria explains to us, no collaboration was possible with the Academy of Fine Arts due to the fact that there were no Italian students in the classes: there were only foreigners “with whom, not knowing our language, it would have been difficult to work.” Unfortunately, collaboration with the art schools of Carrara and Massa was not even possible because, due to a communication error, the teachers were notified too late. But this has not stopped the iron will of Maria Corsini and her young artists who will have the satisfaction of seeing the sister show created, with professional artists, in Argentina: “They will form the casting in November and will begin the tour in January of next year” Maria Corsini tells the press conference.
Mayor Francesco Persiani is enthusiastic about the show, already calling it a success regardless, and sponsors it with the Municipality of Massa. The artistic director thanks him: “he believed in it from the beginning”. The Tuscany Region also wanted to sponsor ‘Without wings nor glory’ and the regional councilor Giacomo Bugliani assured: “The Region would like to support the show”. The patronage of Carrara together with that of Massa represents a fine, rare example of synergy between the two Municipalities whose parochialism is well known. But ‘Without wings nor glory’ will take care of dampening these harmful feelings for the two territories: “We had someone from La Spezia do the bad guy” assures Maria Corsini with a laugh who, above all, sends a message: “We have incurred significant costs for we spent around 40 thousand euros on this project, which for a private association means a lot: I hope you like it, we put everything into it.” Meanwhile, after the premiere and staging in the quarry, Clacsonbeauty hopes to be able to promote it on TV and take it around the theatres. “The aim is to bring the world of the quarries into the theatres, to make our territory known” confesses Maria Corsini, who this year, for her musical academy, celebrates 20 years of activity: 20 years which go hand in hand with the 60 years of another beautiful musical reality of our territory, the Coro del Monte Sagro. Not only that, the musical school has another surprise in store: the historic competition is scheduled for August 10th which this year, given the friendship born between the two associations, will see the Clacsonbeauty artists interpret the song from the repertoire of ‘Without wings nor glory’ dedicated to the lysers.
(For tickets running out: ClacsonbeautyMusical Viale Zaccagna n.2 Avenza 349-0975691)
