New onstage in Rome: a singing Pope John Paul II

[Zatzat]

latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-pope-musical-20100621,0,2965324.story

Reporting from Rome — A pope, let’s face it, has certain built-in limitations as a main character in a musical (see: Celibacy, rule of). If for only that reason, Andrew Lloyd Webber probably has little to fear from the latest musical to open in Rome: a three-hour marathon about the life of the late John Paul II.

 

[Dale_M]

Here are the first three paragraphs of the article, just so folks have a taste of it.

A pope, let’s face it, has certain built-in limitations as a main character in a musical (see: Celibacy, rule of). If for only that reason, Andrew Lloyd Webber probably has little to fear from the latest musical to open in Rome: a three-hour marathon about the life of the late John Paul II.

But “Non Abbiate Paura” (“Be Not Afraid”), which recently had a two-night run before a longer return in the fall, does offer a passion and reverence for its subject that the opening night audience clearly appreciated.

You might expect as much from a play by two Roman Catholic priests, Giuseppe Spedicato and Biagio Mandorino, who took their title from an exhortation by Jesus that John Paul frequently repeated.

The next four paragraphs dwell on the sex abuse crisis, which seems unnecessary, at least to me. But then the article gets back on topic. I must say that the concept seems odd, but it sounds as if the musical is non-offensive, and perhaps even enjoyable. There is no information about audience reaction.