Bottega Art Teatrale recently showcased a spectacular presentation of classical Italian children’s songs in ‘The Great Recital!’ at the Italian Forum Cultural Center in Sydney’s Little Italy, in Leichardt.
The Great Recital was based on the popular children’s Italian song festival, Zecchino d’Oro and featured some of the legendary children’s songs that have coloured the lives of generations.
The show opened with Director and host Santo Crisafulli who also led the on stage antics as the character of Mago. Mago then introduced co host Lina Sacco who played the most brilliant Fata Turchina.
The pair ribbed each other throughout the show with their sharp wit, while adding some very interesting historical background to the performance.
The stars of the show, however, were the ‘coro dei piccoli’(choir of the little ones). An exceptionally talented group of young singers collectively performed a number of songs that were to be judged by the audience to determine their favourite song!
Starting with the national anthems of Australia and Italy, the program was jam packed with surprises, including multiple costume changes, dance routines, the introduction of a live orchestra and even appearances by Topo Gigio!
Songs were conducted by the endlessly talented Lydia Donato who also performed as a part of the ‘il gatto e la volpe sketch.’ The well known numbers included favourites such as ‘Ma Che Pizza’, ‘Le Tagliatelle Di Nonna Pina’ and the writer’s pick, ‘Scuola Rap’, that even had one of the Nonna’s rapping a verse from her seat in the audience. The show culminated with Bottega D’Arte Teatrale favorites Michael Gioello, Sarah Arnold and Catherine Crowley adding their significant operatic and vocal talents to the closing number.
Whilst the families of the performers, teachers, parents, siblings and nonni were delighted, so too was the broader audience.
The biggest winner, however, was the cultural transference from one generation to the next. Some of the performers had little to no stage experience or linguistic challenges (the production was almost entirely in Italian) and performed impeccably in the Italian language. The only thing left to say to the production team and performers is “Bravo!”
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