‘Mamma mia!’, After two years in Rome the Sistina theater reopens

It is really appropriate to exclaim ‘Mamma mia!’: After two years of forced closure due to the Covid pandemic, the Sistina theater reopens in Rome; and the curtain will rise again, from 7 December, with the musical ‘Mamma mia!’ which celebrates the Abba epic, signed by the director Massimo Romeo Piparo who is the artistic director of the temple of Italian musical comedy. On stage, Paolo Conticini, Luca Ward, Sergio Muniz and Sabrina Marciano will be protagonists, in the role played by Meryl Streep in the film. To complete the cast of the musical – which has already registered over half a million spectators in about two hundred performances – are about thirty artists and the orchestra directed by Maestro Emanuele Friello. Abba’s most famous songs – from ‘Mamma Mia!’ to ‘Dancing Queen’, from ‘The winner takes it all’ to ‘Super Trouper’, in all 24 songs – they have been translated into Italian and edited directly by the director Massimo Romeo Piparo, like the dialogues. “Finally we return to dreaming, finally back to work – exclaims with satisfaction Massimo Romeo Piparo, artistic director of the Sistina theater – They have been two very hard years for us live show operators; years in which we have been suddenly denied the very essence of our profession: sharing, the closeness of people on the occasion of a ritual that is being performed. Now, the Sistine Chapel restarts with enthusiasm and is completely renewed, offering the spectator proof of how much it cares for its public “. But, Piparo emphasizes,” trust must be won on the pitch and we also did it starting from the reimbursements made during the health emergency, when everyone issued vouchers withholding sums of money for over 20 months: in a moment of such uncertainty and deprivation i, we operators have the obligation to demonstrate that we want to deserve this trust at all costs “. Spectators will find a renovated theater, with new armchairs for greater comfort, carpets, boiserie, velvets, toilets, foyers, marble, a new ventilation system and a new ticketing system, in person at the box office or online on the site with a technological innovation which the Sistina will be the first Italian theater to equip itself with, namely the 3D exhibition of the vision of the stage from the chosen seat. The catering system has also been renewed. Finally, last news: the start time of the shows, with the evening reruns starting at 8.30pm instead of 9pm while the afternoon is scheduled at 4pm. (By Enzo Bonaiuto)