It’s one of those evenings that only come true in childhood dreams. Those in which, with their eyes closed, someone imagines getting on a stage cheering their name because everything, absolutely everything, went as he wanted.
Who knows if last night, when Stefano Massini, one of the most brilliant Italian theater actors of his generation, thought of those dreams when the night of the 75th edition of the Tony Awards (the Oscars of theater and musicals on Broadway), became the its night. The one in which he won five statuettes out of eight nominations for his “The Lehman Trilogy”. In addition to the award for best play and best direction – on a par with the English Sam Mendes – he triumphed for the best lighting design, best scenography and best actor with the English Simon Russell Beale.
The Lehman trilogy
“The Lehman trilogy” tells the financial saga of the Lehman brothers, telling their story from the mid-nineteenth century, when from Germany they arrived in the United States aboard the Burgundy ship to create a fabric shop in Alabama, in 2008, the year of bankruptcy and of the heavy crisis of financial capitalism to which the bank founded by the Lehman gave their contribution. Being celebrated in this way, outside national borders, is a more unique than rare event for an Italian theatrical work. But, the well-deserved awards were the culmination of seven years of success in the most prestigious theaters in Europe, Italy and the U.S. And perhaps, one of the secrets of this opera’s success is precisely its non-Italian setting. The story is not Italian, the protagonists are not Italian and not even the supporting actors. Talent, yes, however, was all born and raised in our home. Meanwhile, the next step has already been written. Because after the theater, television is coming. Thanks to the success of the work (published in Italy by Einaudi and translated into many languages), it has already been announced that The Lehman Trilogy will soon become a television series produced by Domenico Procacci’s Fandango.
