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music / lecture > Pinocchio on Broadway: Collodi @ 200

pinocchio-on-broadway
  • Event date: The April 15 2026, 18:00 (Local time)
  • Place: Embassy of Italy in Washington
  • For a fee: No

The Italian Cultural Institute of Washington and the Department of Italian Studies of Georgetown University will host an event to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the birth of Carlo Collodi — born Carlo Lorenzini — the creator of Pinocchio.

The event will feature a discussion on the legendary production directed by Yasha Frank for the Federal Theatre Project, led by Georgetown University Professor Gianni Cicali. Like Collodi himself, Prof. Cicali is Florentine and a theater historian. The program will also include performances of original songs from the 1930s production by Georgetown students.

Professor Cicali will explore the enduring significance of Pinocchio in American culture and its remarkable impact on Broadway during the 1938–39 season, when Yasha Frank brought the story to tens of thousands of children and adults from coast to coast.

 

📍Embassy of Italy
3000 Whitehaven Street, NW
Washington, DC 20008

 

Registration (starts April 6)

Click on button below for availability

REGISTER HERE

EVENTBRITE REGISTRATION REQUIRED

 

BIOGRAPHIES

 

Dr. Gianni Cicali is a specialist in the history of Italian theater, focusing on the Renaissance, Baroque, and 18th-century periods. He holds doctoral degrees from the University of Florence and the University of Toronto. His research explores the intersections of theater, opera, and culture, with specific expertise in religious theater, cinema, and the migration of Italian performers to the Americas. His last book is Theater and Heresy in 18th-century Italy (Rome: 2021).

 

Massimo D’Onofrio is a Georgetown sophomore double majoring in English and Italian. Originally from New York City, he has been performing in Georgetown Theatre with Mask and Bauble since his freshman Fall. Apart from theatre he is a comic strip artist for the Voice and loves singing anywhere he can.

 

Chiara Volpi is a sophomore majoring in Culture and Politics, with a minor in Italian. She is originally from San Francisco, and loves performing in Georgetown’s theater troupes, GU Cabaret, and her acapella group, The GraceNotes. Grazie mille per l’opportunità di celebrare la cultura italiana!

 

Songs

 

Music by Eddison Von Ottenfeld and Armando Loredo, 1935 (public domain.)
  • Pinocchio (a2 + piano)
  • The Cat and the Fox (a2 + piano)
  • The Blue Fairy (1 + piano)
  • Piano Solo
  • Variations on Pinocchio (a2 + piano)

 

  • Organized by: Italian Cultural Institute of Washington, Department of Italian Studies of Georgetown University