''Rugantino'' is a musical comedy by

Pietro Garinei Pietro Garinei (1 February 1919 – 9 May 2006) was an Italian playwright, actor, and songwriter. Brother of Enzo Garinei. Biography Garinei was born in Trieste in 1919. He later worked as a sports journalist for the daily newspaper in Milan and ...

and

Sandro Giovannini Sandro is an Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Swiss, Georgian and Croatian given name, often a diminutive of Alessandro or Alexander. It is also a surname. Sandro may refer to: Given name or nickname Sports * Sandro (footballer, born 1973), Brazi ...

, which debuted at the

Teatro Sistina The Teatro Sistina is a theatre in Rome, Italy. The building, designed by Marcello Piacentini, was begun in 1946 on the former site of the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Polish Institute. It was inaugurated on 28 December 1949 as a cinema, but later ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, Italy, on 15 December 1962. Music was written by

Armando Trovaioli Armando Trovajoli (also Trovaioli, 2 September 1917 – 28 February 2013) was an Italian film composer and pianist with over 300 credits as composer and/or conductor, many of them jazz scores for exploitation films of the Commedia all'italiana ...

. It is a comedy set in the papal Rome of the 19th century. Actors who played in the first edition included

Nino Manfredi Saturnino "Nino" Manfredi (22 March 1921 – 4 June 2004) was an Italian actor, voice actor, director, screenwriter, playwright, comedian, singer, author, radio personality and television presenter. He was one of the most prominent Italian a ...

(Rugantino),

Aldo Fabrizi Aldo Fabrizi (; born Aldo Fabbrizi; 1 November 1905 – 2 April 1990) was an Italian actor, director, screenwriter and comedian, best known for the role of the heroic priest in Roberto Rossellini's ''Rome, Open City'' and as partner of Totò in ...

(as Mastro Titta, a historical executioner),

Lea Massari Lea Massari, born Anna Maria Massetani (born 30 June 1933) is an actress and singer from Italy. Massari was born Anna Maria Massetani in Rome, but changed her name to Lea Massari when she was 22 after the death of her fiancé Leo. She studied a ...

(Rosetta, later replaced by

Ornella Vanoni Ornella Vanoni (; born 22 September 1934) is an Italian singer-songwriter and actress. She is one of the longest-standing Italian artists, having started performing in 1956. She has released about 112 works between LP, EPs and greatest hits alb ...

) and

Bice Valori Maria Bice Valori (13 May 1927 – 17 March 1980) was an Italian actress, comedian and television and radio personality. Life and career Born in Rome, Valori studied at the Silvio d’Amico Academy of Dramatic Arts, graduating in 1948. The same ...

(Eusebia). In the second Italian edition Rugantino was played by

Enrico Montesano Enrico Montesano (born 7 June 1945) is an Italian actor and showman. Career Montesano comes from a family involved in theatre, and he made his debut in 1966 in a show named ''Humor nero'', alongside of Vittorio Metz. Later he became a very ...

, and Rosetta by Alida Chelli. The comedy was also performed in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

and

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

(opening at the

Mark Hellinger Theatre The Mark Hellinger Theatre (formerly the 51st Street Theatre and the Hollywood Theatre) is a church building at 237 West 51st Street in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, which formerly served as a cinema and a Broadway thea ...

in February 1964), in an English version translated by

Alfred Drake Alfred Drake (October 7, 1914 – July 25, 1992) was an American actor and singer. Biography Born as Alfred Capurro in New York City, the son of parents emigrated from Recco, Genoa, Drake began his Broadway career while still a student at Broo ...

with lyric translation by

Edward Eager Edward McMaken Eager (June 20, 1911 – October 23, 1964) was an American lyricist, dramatist, and writer of children's fiction. His children's novels feature the appearance of magic in the lives of ordinary children. Most of the ''Magic'' series ...

. The

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

reported the show’s losses as $300,000.Calta, Louis. “10 Hits Help Broadway Rebound from Losses of 1962-63 Season.” New York Times, 29 June 1964, 1.

References

Musicals based on secular traditions 1962 musicals Italian musicals Broadway musicals Musicals set in Rome Musicals set in the 19th century {{musical-theat-stub