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MAMMA MIA!

May 10, 2025 | CULTURE, CULTURE, MUSIC, MUSIC

Mamma Mia!

You will think: movie? No: theatre.

The musical Mamma Mia is back at TAM!

Notably, this is the 25th year since the debut of this musical in London’s West End.

25 Super Trouper Years!

A return to Teatro Arcimboldi Milano.

A return for Mamma Mia! And a return for us too.

I already told you about Cats.

By now you know: I adore musicals!

By now you know: I receive fantastic birthday presents, and the tickets for Mamma Mia at the Arcimboldi Theatre were another spectacular surprise!!!

Mamma mia!

I breathed in the joyful atmosphere even before the curtain went up as I watched the other people, there were all possible generations: from tiny little girls with puppets in their hands and ballet shoes on their feet, to gentlemen who despite the difficulty of walking leaning on their cane reached their seats.

Kids, families, couples, groups, and then them: all wearing a pink t-shirt showing the words the bride’s friends around the bride, wearing a tulle tutu tucked over her jeans, blindfolded with a silk scarf and unaware of what was about to happen.

I found it a really nice way to organise a hen party.

Then came ‘the orchestra’ … a very modern, digital version.

On the two mega screens on either side of the stage the words started to flow and the magic began.

At first I was even moved. Beautiful. Everything was perfect.

Did you also have the chance to see any of the versions of Mamma Mia that took turns on stage?

Do you like Abba songs? Which is your favourite?

How many times have you seen the movie?

Mamma Mia, here I go again
My my, how can I resist you? 🙂

GIFTS, HOW?

Dec 28, 2024 | WHO CARES

Gifts, how?

To tell the truth, for me the beauty of presents is the search, the moment when you think of the most suitable thing for the person who will receive it, the instant when you look at the eyes, hoping it will be a surprise, hoping to see joy.

But I also have been so lucky to receive gifts of the kind that

The excellence of a gift lies in its appropiateness rather than in its value.
Charles Dudley Warner

So here it is:

the illuminated sign

Regali come?

which my husband has already strategically placed in my reading corner.

The bookmark with the cup

Regali, come?

ready to be with me in reading my next book.

Il Caffè della Terra coffee produced in Vigevano.

Regali, come?

How about it?

Would you like to tell me about a gift of yours?

A gift received or given, a guessed gift or an embarrassing gift, a useful or desired gift, a bizarre gift or the gift you will never forget.

I generally always take a long time for presents, some people choose a shop and then find everything quickly.

Do you have a strategy or do you rely on chance?

Do you plan months in advance or do you dedicate yourself to presents in December?

Do you ever follow a common thread?

Do you prefer to request gift wrapping from the retailer or do you take care of it yourself?

Lately, many shopkeepers use the logo shopper bag, which is no longer included in the price.

Do you think the anti-waste concept or the surprise is more important?

What if you receive a gift that for some reason you will definitely not use?

Coffee’s ready, sit down and we’ll talk!

LA SABBIA NELLA MENTE – SAND IN THE MIND

Jun 22, 2024 | BOOKS, BOOKS

Antonio Migliorisi’s Sand in the Mind was a big surprise for me.

Usually before reading a book I am curious, like everyone else I always read the back cover or the preview, and unavoidably ‘visualise’ what my guess is.

In this case, I must say that the title was prophetic, because I imagined something different.

I therefore sincerely thank Antonio Migliorisi for having pleasantly surprised me, and with him I also thank Manuale di Mari that made this discovery possible.

Antonio Migliorisi is a prestigious architect from the Marche region, active in many fields including teaching.

Surely, one can also speak of architecture when referring to Sand in the Mind, because of the way it is constructed.

I expected to take a journey into the psyche, instead I experienced an adventure while also learning interesting anecdotes about Mnemosyne: mythological personification of memory.

In general, the reading reveals Antonio Migliorisi to be a deep connoisseur of various subjects, scrupulous with details and exhaustive in situations.

And his expertise leads the reader along with the characters in a plot full of twists and turns.

The result is undoubtedly worthy of international best sellers.

The book opens and closes in situations accompanied by jazz music as ‘background.’

I found an analogy between jazz and the book itself as an enthralling rhythm characterised by solo virtuosity: the virtuosity of Antonio Migliorisi.

Here is the booktrailer

what do you think?

THERE IS STILL TOMORROW.

Nov 4, 2023 | MOVIES, WOMEN, MOVIES, WOMEN

There is still tomorrow which sees the directorial debut of Paola Cortellesi is the film that won the Audience Award, Special Jury Prize and Mention as Best First Work at the Rome Film Festival.

Paola Cortellesi doesn’t need to be introduced, I always remember one of her gags in which she ironically listed all the things she has done, which are really so many and very different from each other, but which have the same feature in common: they are all done well.

I thank Elisa and her proposal: we went to the movies together fearing that we would have to use tissues to wipe tears and instead we mostly surprised ourselves.

The Friends.
In the movie: Delia and Marisa.

Emotion, however, was not lacking.

I, for one, was moved by the portrayal of a mother’s love for her daughter, who is played by Romana Maggiora Vergano in the film.

A love above all things, a love for which nothing is impossible, a pure and unwavering love.

Fragility and strength in a maelstrom of endurance and determination in which the ability to carry the crushing weight of a long interminable series of verbal and physical injustices and bullying, is catalyzed in the resolute will to seek a better destiny for Marcella.

Mother and daughter.

A crushed mother and a model daughter who does not understand Delia’s submission.

Succumbing and resisting at the same time, in a dance that is broken melody, is rock, is hip hop rap, is retro.

Marcella does not understand, but she will.

Marcella will look at her mother Delia and see the affirmation of a seemingly simple but extremely important gesture as a right, as a beginning.

Every change has a beginning.

There is still tomorrow represents “the music that changes” in a literal sense: I cannot fail to mention the repertoire songs from the soundtrack:
Aprite le finestre Fiorella Bini
Nessuno Naked Music
Perdoniamoci Achille Togliani
A bocca chiusa Daniele Silvestri
M’innamoro davvero Fabio Concato
La notte dei miracoli Lucio Dalla
Calvin The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion
B.O.B. – Bombs Over Baghdad Outkast
The little things Big Gigantic featuring Angela McCluskey
Swinging on the right side Lorenzo Maffia and Alessandro La Corte
Tu sei il mio grande amor Lorenzo Maffia, Alessandro La Corte and Enrico Rispoli.

Surprising, isn’t it?

Surprising as what you don’t expect from There is still tomorrow: the ending.

Indeed, in my heart I hoped that Delia’s project would not be the obvious one, but at the same time I would not have guessed an epilogue like the one with which Paola Cortellesi invites everyone to a beautiful reflection.

Light yet explosive, simple yet disruptive, just like Delia, just like Paola.

Yes because Delia is Paola, she is Marcella, and she is our grandmother.

Delia is so many lives of giving up, Delia is so many years of suffering.

Like nothing at all.

CHRISTMAS WITH WHO?

Dec 29, 2021 | BOOKS, MOVIES

Who did you spend Christmas with?

Thanks to Luciana’s gift, I spent it with Agatha: and with Poirot’s Christmas.

A reading that takes you back to the classic situation typical of the riddles to be solved: room and windows closed, inside only the victim, no one enters, no one leaves …

Agatha dedicated this story to her brother-in-law, James, according to whom her murders “were getting refined.”
“You yearned for a good violent murder with lots of blood…so this is your special story – written for you.”

Among other things, there is also a quote from Shakespeare: “Yet who would have thought the old man had so much blood in him?“

The one who pronounces it is not Lady Macbeth but a member of the Lee family, reunited for Christmas at the behest of the elderly father, despite divisions and disputes of various kinds.

“And families now, families who have been separated throughout the year, assemble once more together. Now under these conditions, my friend, you must admit that there will occur a great amount of strain. People who do not feel amiable are putting great pressure on themselves to appear amiable! There is at Christmas time a great deal of hypocrisy, honourable hypocrisy, hypocrisy undertaken pour le bon motif, c’est entendu, but nevertheless hypocrisy.”
Hercule Poirot

What to say?
Sadly true.

In the film version, Poirot was played by David Suchet.

Speaking of cinema as well as family reunions, as well as with the Lees, I also spent Christmas with the Colardo and Marinelli families, do you know them?