by Cesare Zucca
Milano. The historical Teatro Gerolamo, a jlittle jewel built in1868, to showcase puppet companies, including the famous Carlo Colla & Figli, For decades, it was an attraction and a privileged appointment for a cultured and passionate public and for generations of young spectators. After years of decay, in 1958 it was returned to use by the impresario Paolo Grassi, who had great Italian and international actors and singers perform there, including Franca Valeri, Paolo Poli, Enzo Jannacci, Dario Fo and Franca Rame, Ornella Vanoni, Juliette Gréco and Domenico Modugno .

In 2017 it was returned to the city after a long restoration that brought the structure back to its former 19th century splendour.The Gerolamo Theatre has also been called the La Scala, in miniature because its architectural structure is reminiscent of the Milanese temple of opera,

Teatro Gerolamo presents The Circus before the Circus and is anexcellent location to show how the Circus once was performed in Theaters The story tells that in XVI century, many theaters were born in London, featuring presented mixed combinations of Elizabethan theater, equestrian exhibitions, and numbers of acrobats, tightrope walkers, contortionists, which were immediately a huge success, getting popular also in France and Italy.

Conceived by the writer Roberto Bianchin, awarded the “Premio Massimo Alberini” by the Ente Nazionale Circhi for circus criticism, and staged by a prestigious name in the history of the circus, that of Paride Orfei, descendant of the famous dynasty of the Italian circus and director of the circus arts school “Circo dei Sogni”, the show “CircoTeatro Ambrosiano”,

The Circus before the Circus, recreates the atmosphere of the nineteenth-century circus-theater, with the presence of an international cast of acrobats, trapeze artists, contortionists, antipodists, jugglers, stilt walkers, clowns, musicians, storytellers, soothsayers and phenomena.

Paride Orfei celebrates his long artistic career with a book about his circus life
The presentation of the latest works will take place at the Teatro Gerolamo in Milan on the morning of Friday 17 February

On the occasion of the inauguration of the historical exhibition, the book by Paride Orfei, “The dream of the Orfei”, will be presented in preview at the Gerolamo Theater. A sort of autobiography, not only of him, but of his entire family, which has marked the history of the Italian circus, with a rich apparatus of rare photographs and unpublished documents.

In addition to that Teatro Gerolamo hosts the exhibition “Nando Orfei, a family dream”, curated by Gioia Orfei family, using materials from their archives (stage costumes, objects, tools, photographs, posters), which recount one hundred years of life, adventures and successes of this great dynasty of the Italian circus.

«Memories and music“
It took five years for the album, made up of 8 songs. – says Paride Orfei -. The songs, written and arranged by myself together with Roberto Riccitelli, a close friend, range from rock to blues. These are genres with which I have always had greater confidence and familiarity. The lyrics are based on first-person stories, anecdotes and poems about the circus universe that has surrounded me so far“.

At Teatro Gerolamo Till Feb 19, 2023
P.za Cesare Beccaria, 8, 20122 Milano
Phone: 02 4538 8221

To buy tickets click here