Gruffalò certainly needs no introduction. The character created by Julia Donaldson is Axel Scheffler the protagonist of the publications of the same name is now appreciated and known by thousands of children and parents all over the world thanks to the translations made in over 30 languages.

From here to the stages of the theater it was a short step: there are in fact numerous transpositions for the theater of these texts.

Therefore, The Gruffalò has become the protagonist of important theatrical productions. The tours have touched: England, Ireland, United States, Australia, South Africa, Germany and Israel with great public success. However, these shows have never been represented in our country. Aida Foundation has therefore decided to take up the challenge to propose it its own original version . While remaining faithful to the texts and iconography of the original illustrations, an entirely new musical show has been created. The goal is to bring the squares to the largest Italian squares.

Collaborators

To do this, the Aida Foundation can count on a consolidated and established network of collaborations: Santa Chiara Cultural Services Center , the Stable Theater of Veneto and the BSMT – Bernstein School of Musical in Bologna. The artistic experience in the field of family shows of Pino Costalunga and Manuel Renga that we intend to activate was also of great importance.

Thanks to this intense work, the production of the new show The Gruffalò, scheduled for 2020, will once again be appreciated by our young audience and will result in an entertaining and at the same time educational show.

Plot and notes by the playwright Pino Costalunga

What are four young friends doing in a forest? They go to clean it up, you might say, since you see them at the beginning of the play just as they are doing it. But we have the doubt that they are going there to spend a few days and, above all, a few nights, camped out in a tent, waiting for the most beautiful moment of the day, when, around a fire, they will tell stories of fear. And what could be better than a forest at night for a good scary story?

They will tell the story of a little mouse who, hungry, decides to go through the leafy forest full of pitfalls to find the acorn he likes so much. On the way, he meets three ugly mice who want to eat him: a fox, an owl and a snake. But the clever little mouse is shrewd in his thinking and knows just how to get by. With the help of his great imagination, he finds a solution that no one can imagine, not even himself, perhaps: a terrible monster whose name is well known to children: THE GRUFFALÒ.

We will leave the delightful rhymes of the English writer intact and the actors will wear fantastic costumes that are based on the wonderful illustrations of the German designer. Children will easily recognize that text and will also enjoy the funny and original songs written especially for the show. The comic and mimic situations, as well as the dances, enrich the original tale.

Perhaps some of the audience will leave the show wondering if that frightening monster really exists. Of course that monster exists in our story, but it is a monster that makes us laugh and he exists just to tell the children: “use your imagination, your intelligence and even a wild and leafy forest can become a place where it is fun to live”, at least for some time, at least for the time of childhood.

A gift in music that wants to pay homage to an appointment that has become a tradition. An event that has been able to cross the years with sobriety, lightness and elegance without ever losing sight of its identity. So here is Il Magico Zecchino d’Oro, a title that is already a program.  A musical born from the collaboration between Antoniano of Bologna, Fondazione Aida of Verona and Centro Servizi Culturali Santa Chiara of  Trento, supported by Geomag and Valfrutta.

Plot

What to expect from Il Magico Zecchino d’Oro? A show in the show in which the songs will be the absolute protagonists together with fantasy and a pinch of magic. Memories, emotions, sensations, moments lived and to relive. This and much more will be present in what can be defined as a musical fantasy able to surprise everyone, young and old. Protagonist of the plot, Alice, a little girl who is sometimes afraid of the dark. With her, on stage, the Little Man of the Moon who sends dreams to children while they sleep thanks to the jingling of the golden coin which, however, wants to take possession of the Witch Obscura. There will also be adventures and meetings with some of the most famous characters of the songs that have made the history of the Zecchino d’Oro. A gift that Antoniano gives to us to live together this very special occasion.

A show to sing along to!

As you can imagine, the songs will be the absolute protagonists of this production. The most famous and best known musical texts of the Zecchino d’Oro have been specially selected to become the soundtrack of Il Magico Zecchino d’Oro. Songs that have been conceived by the children, sung and voted by them over the years and that now, on this particular occasion, become the backbone of the theatrical dramaturgy. Protagonists in a new way, renewed and revisited while maintaining their style and their authenticity. A curiosity, this, which also represents the originality of Il Magico Zecchino d’Oro that turns out to be an engaging show and suitable for everyone, young and adult.