On May 15th, the stage at The Palace Theatre is being graced by a true international legend: Arianna Bergamaschi. Her hit show, Italiani Veri, is more than a concert; it’s a cinematic journey through the soul of Italy, guided by a woman who has quite literally been the voice of the nation for decades. If you’re looking for the real Italy, beyond the tourist traps and the tired clichés, Arianna is the only tour guide to trust.
Arianna’s career is a timeline of Italian pop culture. She began her ascent as Italy’s official Disney Ambassador at just 14 years old. During that time, she released 4 solo albums and dozens of compilations, selling over 300,000 copies before she was even out of her teens. She’s the childhood voice for an entire generation of Italians.
Arianna quickly transitioned from the “Disney girl” to the undisputed Queen of Musical Theatre, starring in the Italian premieres of Beauty and the Beast, The Wizard of Oz, and Romeo and Juliet. Her theatrical prowess lets her command a stage with an effortless precision.
From the Vatican to the Billboard charts, Arianna is able to transmit her country’s rich culture across oceans. You may know her 2013 hit “Sexy People” featuring Pitbull or her other collaborations with Shaggy and FloRida. She’s even performed for the Pope at the Vatican, cementing her status as an official representative of the Italian spirit.
Given her experience on global stages, Arianna understands our draw towards Italy. She knows what we love about her country, but she also knows what we’re missing.
We sat down with her ahead of her show to get an insight into her world.
Stepping from one spotlight to another
You’ve played iconic characters like Belle and Juliet. How does it feel to step on stage as “Arianna,” representing the authentic Italian identity rather than a fictional role?
“More dangerous. Belle and Juliet cannot disappoint their relatives. Arianna can. When you play a fictional character, you borrow emotions. When you play yourself and through yourself, an entire people you risk everything: your truth, your memories, your contradictions. But that is also where the magic is. Italiani Veri is not me pretending to be someone else. It is me trying to understand who we all are.”
Deconstructing the Italian “Vero”
The show tackles Italian clichés. Which Italian stereotype do you find the most fun to debunk, and which one do you secretly find to be true?
“The funniest to debunk is that Italians are relaxed. We are not relaxed. We try to enjoy life while avoiding the panic and anxiety caused by the uncertainty that often lies in our lives. The one secretly true? We can turn a simple meal into philosophy, theatre, therapy, and a family argument all before dessert and deep down, we’re all more or less “ mammoni” (mamma’s boys).”
A view from the outside in
Having collaborated with international artists like Pitbull and Michael Bolton, how did seeing Italy through “foreign eyes” influence the way you wrote Italiani Veri?
“It taught me that Italy is sometimes more visible from far away. Foreign artists often see our beauty immediately in the music, style, sensuality, and emotion. Italians, instead, sometimes only see traffic, taxes, bureaucracy and their cousin who still owes them money. We have always been a country that tends to see foreign countries as better in every possible way. In Italy, we say that the neighbour’s garden is always greener. Seeing Italy through foreign eyes reminded me that our chaos is also charisma. Our imperfections are often the source of our charm.”
The art of improvisation
If an audience member walks away with only one new realization about what it means to be an Italian, what do you hope that is?
“That being Italian is not perfection. It is the art of improvisation, the ability to turn a problem into a resource, the talent of reinventing yourself and solving any problem at the very last moment. We turn problems into poetry, limits into style, pain into songs, and dinner into an event. To be Italian is to refuse to let life remain ordinary.”
See the magic in action
In Italiani Veri, Arianna steps out from behind the curtain of fictional characters to show us the “Vero” (true) thing. It’s an allrounder of a show that blends her spectacular voice with a load of laughs and playful Italian fun. She uses music and storytelling to deconstruct the myths, laughing at the stereotypes while celebrating the fierce, creative and chaotic heart of her homeland.
If you want to see the Arianna magic in action, the Italiani Veri extravaganza is happening on May 15th in The Palace Theatre!
