2023-09-11 20:47:34
by Emilia Costantini
The drama created by the actor and singer starts on September 14th on Canale 5. «I learned to act with Strehler, exhausting rehearsals And for a musical I spent five months in a circus»
“I know who I am, I don’t want pity, I’m innocent.” Massimo Ranieri, twenty years after his last appearance in a fiction, is the protagonist of the new series «The voice you have inside», produced by Lucky Red, on Canale 5 from 14 September in four prime time slots, directed by Eros Puglielli . The story is set in Naples and, in the first scene, Michele Ferrara, the character he plays, leaves the Poggioreale prison, after having served ten years on charges of killing his father Mimmo, a well-known singer and founder of the house Parthenope record company. But is he really guilty? And if he didn’t do it, who is the real killer? «Michele has always declared himself not guilty – continues Ranieri – but he was not believed and, when he returns home, he finds his family destroyed. Her wife has rebuilt her love life, and is unconvinced of her husband’s innocence; the two eldest sons are trying to sell the record company. The only one who believes him is her youngest daughter.”
Despite the family drift, does Michele, a talented singer, want to save Parthenope?
“Yes! He is a man devastated by pain, but against everyone’s opinion, he works hard to find new young singers, to relaunch the record company, renewing the repertoire. After ten years spent behind bars, the world has changed, neo-melodic songs cannot be revived, there is rap, trap and he comes across a girl who sings in a nightclub: she is good and he wants to trust her . This story is also a way to tell young people today that they must not give up.”
A story of a musical environment, which comes from your idea and perhaps concerns you personally?
«On my journey I have encountered obstacles, lowered shutters, stones under my feet… but I have never given up. I was born into a proletarian family, I did many jobs, I even sang in taverns to get valuable tips… And my first great adventure was when, at 13, I was hired to act as support for the legendary Sergio Bruni, who had to perform in New York”.
Are you leaving for America?
“Well yes. At the time there were no planes, only ships to go overseas. We boarded the Cristoforo Colombo and, upon departure, my parents and brothers greeted me with white handkerchiefs from the dock. My mother shouted: come back quickly, my son!
How had he convinced them?
«The organizer convinced them, and then I went to earn my living! Fifteen days of sailing: I didn’t even know how to swim, but it was thrilling. The ship was huge however, in the boundless Atlantic, it looked like a small rowing boat. We arrived safely, but there was no telephone at my house, I couldn’t reassure my parents: mother went to the police to get news of me.”
Sergio Bruni your first teacher?
«He taught me everything, starting with the education of entering the stage on tiptoe, thanking the audience who idolized him and gave him the opportunity to eat. I had the task of singing a few songs, anticipating his performance and then I was his stage servant… ».
A career that began very early, with many singing successes. Why did he decide to change his path at twenty?
«I had done the Cantagiro, the Sanremo Festival, Canzonissima… I couldn’t see myself with a microphone in my hand all my life, I wanted to learn something else».
And he dedicated himself to an acting career…
«I didn’t attend academies, my school was the street. It was Patroni Griffi who told me: you have to do theatre. The turning point came with Strehler, who was looking for an interpreter for “The Good Soul of Sezuan”: when he called his secretary to invite me to Milan, I thought it was a joke. With him it was a massacre, but in 5 months of rehearsals I grew professionally by 50 years. Luchino Visconti wanted me to play Caruso in the film he was thinking of: we started work, but unfortunately he passed away.”
Is it true that for “Barnum the Musical” he learned to be a tightrope walker?
«I attended the circus for 6 months, learning everything from tightrope walkers, clowns, acrobats… To play the boxer Marcel Cerdan, Piaf’s last love, two months of training with Patrizio Oliva: I lost 10 kilos!».
A regret?
«A disappointment. During rehearsals with Strehler, the great Eduardo De Filippo came to visit us and told me: “I don’t understand why you don’t want to work with me”. I replied to him: Master, who told you this nonsense? and He: “They told me,” and he went away.”
September 11, 2023 (modified September 11, 2023 | 8.47pm)
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