Piccole donne il musical with Antonella Morea at Teatro Sala Umberto, March 16 to 21, 2027

Piccole donne il musical, the Broadway musical based on the novel by Louisa May Alcott, with Antonella Morea, plays at Teatro Sala Umberto, at via della Mercede 50 (00187 Rome), from Tuesday, March 16 to Sunday, March 21, 2027, for six performances: Tuesday to Friday at 20:30, Saturday the 20th and Sunday the 21st at 16:00. It is produced by Compagnia dell'Alba of Ortona, with direction and choreography by Fabrizio Angelini and musical direction by Gabriele de Guglielmo. The hall is in the Colonna district, between piazza di Spagna and the Trevi Fountain, about 10 minutes on foot from the Spagna and Barberini stops of metro line A. According to the table on the official page, the full-price ticket costs €34 in the premium orchestra, €28 in orchestra A and €22 in orchestra B. Tickets are bought on the official Sala Umberto website, which links to the theater's online box office, or at the box office.

Language: opera sung in its original language; no English surtitles are announced, so check with the theater.

Piccole donne at Sala Umberto: dates, times and tickets

Piccole donne il musical stays at Sala Umberto for one week, March 16 to 21, 2027, with four evening shows and two weekend matinees.

The calendar

Tuesday the 16th, Wednesday the 17th, Thursday the 18th and Friday the 19th of March at 20:30, Saturday the 20th and Sunday the 21st of March at 16:00. This is the calendar published in the theater's online box office, where each performance has its own purchase page.

Prices

The price table on the show's page lists the full-price ticket at €34 in the premium orchestra, €28 in orchestra A and €22 in orchestra B. The booking form shows three sections: premium orchestra, orchestra and first balcony.

Where to buy

The Buy button on the official page leads to the Sala Umberto online box office. The Book button opens a form to choose the date and section. For information the box office answers at 06 6794753 and at prenotazioni@salaumberto.com. The theater accepts the carta del docente.

The credits

The musical is based on the novel by Louisa May Alcott, with book by Allan Knee and music by Jason Howland. The Italian version is by Gianfranco Vergoni. Acting coach Manuela Mandracchia, musical direction Gabriele de Guglielmo, sets by Gabriele Moreschi, costumes by Alessia de Guglielmo, lighting by Valerio Tiberi, sound by Alberto Soraci. Direction and choreography are by Fabrizio Angelini.

Piccole donne il musical: the story of the March sisters

Piccole donne il musical tells, like the novel, the four March sisters, Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy, who in the second half of the nineteenth century live in Concord, Massachusetts, with their mother, while their father, a chaplain in the Union army, is far away because of the American Civil War.

Jo, the writer

At the center is Josephine, called Jo, an aspiring writer. In the Sala Umberto's presentation she is described as the girl who fights against the rules that relegated women to a secondary role, and who wants to show herself for who she is, without appearing helpless, fragile or submissive to the common will.

The other characters

The sisters' lives intertwine with those of other figures: Professor Bhaer, Aunt March, young Laurie, his grandfather, Mr. Lawrence, and his tutor, John Brooke. These are the characters readers of the novel know, this time in music.

The book within the book

The ending of the musical, like that of the novel, plays on a mirroring: Piccole donne is also the title of the book Jo will write about her family and her friends, and which will be published by a major publisher. The story the audience has just seen becomes the protagonist's work.

The themes

The presentation insists on one point: Piccole donne is a cornerstone of American and children's literature, suitable for any age group, able to make you laugh, move you and make you think, and it deals with women's emancipation in an era when the concept was beyond all imagination. Encouraging women to fight against stereotypes and to decide their own path on their own is the thread that links the novel to the musical.

The Compagnia dell'Alba di Ortona production

Compagnia dell'Alba's Piccole donne il musical debuted in October 2021 at Teatro Tosti in Ortona, thanks to a special agreement with Music Theatre International, and has been touring the main Italian theaters since then.

The tour

According to Sala Umberto, the show has had great critical and audience success throughout the years of touring, with a warm reception in halls such as Alfieri in Turin, Repower in Milan and Teatro Valli in Reggio Emilia. The Rome stop in March 2027 is part of this path.

Music Theatre International

The agreement with Music Theatre International is what allows the company to perform in Italy the Broadway musical by Allan Knee and Jason Howland, in the Italian version by Gianfranco Vergoni. It is the way American musical theater titles normally reach European stages.

The company's repertoire

Piccole donne follows other titles by Compagnia dell'Alba: Nunsense, the Nuns' Musical, Aggiungi un posto a tavola, Tutti insieme appassionatamente and A Christmas Carol. It is a repertoire that mixes the Italian tradition of musical comedy and the classics of the English-language musical.

Angelini and de Guglielmo

The company is run by the maestros Fabrizio Angelini and Gabriele de Guglielmo: Angelini signs the direction and choreography, de Guglielmo the musical direction. The credits also include Alessia de Guglielmo, who designed the costumes.

Who Antonella Morea is: biography

Antonella Morea, born in Naples on May 16, 1956, is a stage actress, singer and director who began her career in 1976 and owes her first big role to Roberto De Simone, in La Gatta Cenerentola.

A family of music and words

Her mother, Assunta Carosone, was a cousin of Renato Carosone. Her sister was the Neapolitan writer Delia Morea. Antonella made her debut in 1976 with Tupeapò, alongside Franco Acampora, Maria Di Maio and Gennarino Palumbo. During one of the performances she was noticed by Clelia Matania, who encouraged her to go to the audition for La Gatta Cenerentola.

With Roberto De Simone

De Simone hires her for the role of Invidia della Lavandaia in La Gatta Cenerentola: it is the start of a long partnership. Then come L'ammalato per apprensione, after Molière, and Il Canto de li cunti in 1990, debuting at Teatro Valle in Rome, Il drago and Paisiello's L'idolo cinese in 1991, Le tarantelle del rimorso in 1993, Lo Vommaro a duello in 2008 and, in 2005, Paisiello's Socrate immaginario, performed at San Carlo in Naples and at La Scala in Milan.

Neapolitan theater

She has worked with Carlo Giuffré in Non ti pago and La fortuna con l'effe maiuscola, with Tato Russo, with Giuseppe Patroni Griffi in Tragedia reale, with Renato Carpentieri in Della Porta's Tabernaria. From 2006 to 2010 she is in Luca De Filippo's company, directed by Francesco Rosi, in Voci di dentro and then as Rosalia Solimene in Filumena Marturano.

The monologue and the awards

In 2000 she takes on her first monologue, Anna Cappelli, directed by Fortunato Calvino: in the following years she will perform it more than 250 times. With Calvino she begins a collaboration that continues over time. For her role in Nella città l'inferno, directed by Francesco Tavassi, she wins the Premio Provincia di Savona.

Film, television and records

In film she debuts in 1986 with Il camorrista by Giuseppe Tornatore and Ternosecco by Giancarlo Giannini. Then she works with Vincenzo Salemme in A ruota libera and Volesse il cielo!, with Luca Verdone, with Leonardo Pieraccioni in Il paradiso all'improvviso. On television she is in the third season of Capri. In 2009 she releases a solo record, Anema d' 'o munno, with 12 tracks.

Musical theater and the web

In 2018 she is Mrs Brill, the grumbling cook of Mary Poppins the Musical, at Teatro Nazionale in Milan, directed by Federico Bellone. Younger audiences also know her as Mamma in the Casa Surace videos, a character recalled in the pages of the Manuale del Fuorisede published by Panini Comics in 2020.

Antonella Morea in Piccole donne

On the Sala Umberto's bill, Antonella Morea's name is above the title, as the draw for the Rome stop. The official page does not specify which character she plays.

An actress who sings

Casting a performer like Morea in a musical has an obvious logic: an actress and singer, she has been through De Simone's Neapolitan musical theater, Paisiello's opera buffa at La Scala and the big musical with Mary Poppins. In a company of young performers, she brings the experience of 50 years on stage.

The role

Antonella Morea's exact role in the show is not indicated by the theater. If you want to know before choosing the date, you can ask the Sala Umberto box office.

A link with Valle

In 1990 Morea had made her debut right in Rome, at Teatro Valle, with De Simone's Il Canto de li cunti. 37 years later she returns to a hall in the historic center, a few hundred meters from that stage, with a title designed for families.

A curiosity about Piccole donne il musical with Antonella Morea at Teatro Sala Umberto, March 16 to 21, 2027

The nicest curiosity is a family thread. Antonella Morea is the daughter of Assunta Carosone, cousin of Renato Carosone: the Rome headliner of an American musical is related to the famous Neapolitan singer. And her path has taken her from De Simone's La Gatta Cenerentola to Mary Poppins and now to Piccole donne: three very different ways of telling a story by singing.

The second curiosity concerns the novel. In the musical, as in Louisa May Alcott's book, Piccole donne is also the title of the novel Jo writes about her family. It is a game of mirrors that the theater makes even more evident: the spectator sees on stage the story the protagonist is writing, and at the end discovers having witnessed the birth of the book.

The third concerns the company. Compagnia dell'Alba is based in Ortona, in Abruzzo, and its Piccole donne debuted in the city's theater, Tosti, in October 2021. A production born far from the big musical circuits and arrived, year after year, at Alfieri in Turin, Repower in Milan and now Sala Umberto in Rome: proof that Italian musical theater is not made only in big cities.

Sala Umberto, the theater on via della Mercede

Teatro Sala Umberto has 485 seats in a rectangular hall with a sloping orchestra and a balcony. Opened in 1882 on the ground floor of a building on via della Mercede, it has had Alessandro Longobardi as artistic director since 2002.

From salon to variety

The hall was commissioned in 1882 by Andrea Busiri Vici, who had its interiors decorated by Alessandro Bazzani. Concerts, operettas and comedies were held there. In 1890 the architect Giulio Podesti enlarged it to 650 seats, when it was perhaps called Sala della Piccola Borsa. In 1913 it became a movie theater.

The king's name

In 1928 the Marino brothers, already owners of Salone Margherita, took it over: the hall returned to theater and took the name Sala Umberto, in honor of the king of Italy. The program was variety, with comedians, chanteuses and headliners with exotic stage names.

From film to drama

Around 1930 movies came back. In 1981 the hall reopened as a theater, under the direction of the Ente teatrale italiano and a program mostly of drama. In 1991 it was a movie theater again, and since 2002 it has been permanently a theater, with drama, comedy, music and a program for young people.

A hall for musical theater

The compact size of Sala Umberto is an advantage for a musical like Piccole donne, built on voices and family scenes more than on big effects: the voice carries without effort even to the last rows, and the relationship with the stage stays intimate.

One thing nobody tells you about Piccole donne il musical with Antonella Morea at Teatro Sala Umberto, March 16 to 21, 2027

What is rarely said about Piccole donne is that it is not only a story for girls. The Sala Umberto's presentation calls it suitable for any age group, and the reason is in the themes: a family of women with the father far away at war, the choice of a profession, the freedom to decide one's own path. Alcott's novel is a children's classic, but the dilemmas of Jo, an aspiring writer in a world that wants women in the background, are those of an adult.

The second thing concerns the audience. Piccole donne is one of the few titles on the bill that really works for three generations together: the grandmother who read the book, the mother who saw one of the films, the daughter discovering the story for the first time. It is a rare chance for family theater that is not a children's show in the strict sense.

Third thing, a practical one: the Saturday and Sunday performances are at 16:00, and in a week of six performances they are the first to fill up, precisely because they are the best suited to families. If you want a premium orchestra seat for the weekend, you should book early. The weekday evening shows, at 20:30, are instead the chance for adults who want to take the musical in at a leisurely pace.

How to get to Sala Umberto

Sala Umberto, at via della Mercede 50, is inside the limited traffic zone of the historic center: you get there on metro line A, getting off at Spagna or Barberini and continuing on foot for about 10 minutes.

From Spagna or Barberini

From Spagna you cross the square and take via di Propaganda toward Sant'Andrea delle Fratte, up to via della Mercede. From Barberini you go down via del Tritone and turn toward via della Mercede. These routes are flat or slightly downhill, suitable even for children.

By bus

Many surface lines run along via del Tritone and via del Corso: for the exact route from your starting point, it is best to use the Atac route planner, which accounts for detours in the center.

By car and taxi

Leave the car outside the ZTL, in the garages on the edge of the center. After the evening shows a taxi is the most convenient solution. Piazza San Silvestro, a few steps from the theater, is an easy point to give.

My advice for visiting Piccole donne il musical with Antonella Morea at Teatro Sala Umberto, March 16 to 21, 2027

My advice is to read, or have the kids read, at least the first chapters of Alcott's novel before going. It is not needed to understand the show, which tells everything by itself, but it lets you recognize the characters as soon as they come on stage, from Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy to Aunt March and young Laurie, and catch the final game of the book written by the protagonist.

The second piece of advice is about the section. In a hall of 485 seats the difference between premium orchestra, at €34, and orchestra B, at €22, is not huge in terms of visibility. For families with small children, however, the central rows of the orchestra let you see the stage without heads in front. In our opinion orchestra A, at €28, is the best compromise for a party of four or five.

Third piece of advice: arrive 20 minutes early. Ticket pickup and coat check take time, and a musical that starts with an ensemble number should be seen from the beginning. For the weekend matinees, it is then best to organize the rest of the day around the show: a morning stroll between Trevi and piazza di Spagna, a light lunch, the theater at 16:00 and, on the way out, the evening lights over the center.

Another well-known fact, yet rarely cited

It is well known that Antonella Morea is an actress of Neapolitan theater. It is less often mentioned how central she was in the story of Roberto De Simone's La Gatta Cenerentola: it was De Simone himself who hired her right after the audition, for the role of Invidia della Lavandaia, and from there came a partnership that also took her into opera, with Paisiello's Socrate immaginario at San Carlo and La Scala. Few performers can say they went from La Scala to Casa Surace.

Another well-known and little explored fact concerns Sala Umberto. Everyone knows it is a historic theater. Few remember that for decades it was a movie theater, and that it took the name we know only in 1928, from the Marino brothers of Salone Margherita, in honor of the king. The drama theater that today hosts Piccole donne only became one again in 2002.

Finally, a fact about the novel: it is well known that Piccole donne is a story of sisters. It is less well known that in the background there is the American Civil War: the girls' father is a chaplain in the Union army, and his absence is the engine of everything. The musical keeps this background, which gives weight even to the lighter scenes.

Around Sala Umberto: the Colonna district

Via della Mercede is in the Colonna district, between the Trevi Fountain and piazza di Spagna, a stone's throw from via del Corso.

The nearby churches

A few meters away is piazza San Silvestro, with San Silvestro in Capite. A little farther up, toward via di Capo le Case, is Sant'Andrea delle Fratte.

Piazza di Spagna and Trinità dei Monti

In 10 minutes on foot you reach the staircase of piazza di Spagna and, at the top, Trinità dei Monti: with children, before a matinee, climbing the staircase and looking at the city from above is a good way to start the day.

Piazza Colonna and the Galleria

Along via del Corso you reach piazza Colonna and Galleria Alberto Sordi, useful on rainy days. A 10-minute walk away is also Teatro Quirino, where the same week a Pirandello with Vanessa Gravina plays.

The right photo to take at Piccole donne il musical with Antonella Morea at Teatro Sala Umberto, March 16 to 21, 2027

The right photo is taken at the entrance, on via della Mercede, under the theater's sign with the Piccole donne poster. For a family it is the souvenir image of the day: the kids in front of the poster, the name of the show legible, the street of the historic center in the background. It is best to take it before it starts, when the afternoon light still reaches the street, and not on the way out, when the crowd in front of the entrance makes everything harder.

No photos or video during the show: the theater's rules and the musical's rights require it, and in an intimate hall like Sala Umberto a lit screen disturbs those sitting around. With children it is best to explain this before going in.

The second photo is taken a few minutes' walk away, on the Trinità dei Monti staircase. After a March matinee, at sunset, the light falls on the staircase and the square: four sisters, or four friends, in a row on the steps, are a spontaneous tribute to the March girls.

Some important events that happened here in history

Sala Umberto was born in 1882, 12 years after Rome became the capital: it was commissioned by Andrea Busiri Vici, on the ground floor of a building on via della Mercede, and decorated by Alessandro Bazzani. It is a hall for concerts, operettas and comedies, in the district frequented by the new Roman bourgeoisie between via del Corso and piazza di Spagna.

In 1890 the architect Giulio Podesti enlarges it to 650 seats. In 1913 it becomes a movie theater, like many Roman halls in the silent era. In 1928 comes the turning point: the Marino brothers, owners of Salone Margherita, bring it back to the stage and give it the king's name, Sala Umberto, with a program of variety, comedians and chanteuses that lasts until around 1930.

Then movies again, for half a century. In 1981 the hall reopens as a theater with the Ente teatrale italiano, in 1991 it goes back to movies, and in 2002 it reopens for good as a theater with Alessandro Longobardi as artistic director. The history of Sala Umberto is that of many halls in the center of Rome: a continual passage between screen and stage, which today has settled on the stage.

Who has passed through Piccole donne il musical with Antonella Morea at Teatro Sala Umberto, March 16 to 21, 2027

The stages of half of Italy have passed through the story of Compagnia dell'Alba's Piccole donne il musical: Tosti in Ortona, where the show debuted in 2021, Alfieri in Turin, Repower in Milan, Teatro Valli in Reggio Emilia. And the maestros who run the company have passed through it, Fabrizio Angelini and Gabriele de Guglielmo, with the titles that came before this one: Nunsense, Aggiungi un posto a tavola, Tutti insieme appassionatamente, A Christmas Carol.

Through Antonella Morea's career have passed some of the most important names in Italian theater: Roberto De Simone, Carlo Giuffré, Giuseppe Patroni Griffi, Luca De Filippo and Francesco Rosi, Vincenzo Salemme, Federico Bellone with Mary Poppins. In film, Giuseppe Tornatore and Giancarlo Giannini, Leonardo Pieraccioni.

Through Sala Umberto have passed, over time, Andrea Busiri Vici and Alessandro Bazzani, the Marino brothers with their variety, the Ente teatrale italiano and today Alessandro Longobardi. In the same season very different titles pass through, from Storia di un cinghiale to Cime tempestose: another nineteenth-century classic brought to the stage.

Piccole donne with children and teenagers

Piccole donne il musical is, according to the Sala Umberto's presentation, a text suitable for any age group. It is one of the season's titles best suited to families.

From what age

The theater does not indicate a minimum age. In our opinion the show works well from age 8 or 9 up, when children can follow a long story with many characters. For the youngest, the 16:00 matinee is in any case the best choice.

For schools

For teachers and parents of middle schoolers, the musical is a chance to talk about women's emancipation, life choices and family, starting from a classic many students read. The theater accepts the carta del docente.

Before and after

A good idea is to watch together, after the show, one of the film versions of the novel, or to read the book: comparing the musical with the other versions of the story is an exercise kids do gladly.

Where to eat before or after Piccole donne

The Colonna district offers every kind of dining. With children, it is best to walk a few streets away from the most touristy streets and look for places with quick service.

Before the matinee

For the 16:00 performances on Saturday and Sunday, the bakeries, pizza-by-the-slice shops and bars on via del Tritone and the nearby streets work well: a quick lunch leaves time to get to the hall without rushing.

After the evening show

At the end of the performance, around 23:00, many kitchens in the center are still open. The trattorias among via della Mercede, via del Pozzetto and via della Vite are frequented at lunch by people who work in the buildings of the area, a good sign of quality.

An afternoon snack

After the matinee, a gelato or a hot chocolate on the streets toward piazza di Spagna ends the day. In mid-March the evenings are still cool: an extra jacket is useful.

Accessibility and practical information

For Sala Umberto's accessibility for people with reduced mobility and for access to the balcony, it is best to contact the theater's box office, at 06 6794753, before buying.

Strollers and coat check

For those arriving with small children and strollers, it is useful to ask the box office where to leave them: in a hall in the historic center, space is limited.

Running time

The running time of the show is not indicated on the official page. The box office can give it at the time of purchase, useful information for planning the trip home with children.

Frequently asked questions about Piccole donne il musical at Sala Umberto

When is Piccole donne il musical at Sala Umberto?

Piccole donne il musical plays at Teatro Sala Umberto in Rome from March 16 to 21, 2027, with six performances: Tuesday the 16th to Friday the 19th at 20:30, Saturday the 20th and Sunday, March 21 at 16:00.

How much do tickets for Piccole donne cost?

For Piccole donne il musical at Sala Umberto the full-price ticket costs €34 in the premium orchestra, €28 in orchestra A and €22 in orchestra B, according to the official page. Tickets are bought online from the theater's website or at the box office, where you can also use the carta del docente.

Who is in the cast of Piccole donne il musical?

In Piccole donne il musical at Sala Umberto the name on the bill is that of Antonella Morea, Neapolitan actress and singer. The theater does not indicate her role or the rest of the cast. Direction and choreography are by Fabrizio Angelini, musical direction by Gabriele de Guglielmo.

Is Piccole donne il musical suitable for children?

Piccole donne il musical is presented by Sala Umberto as a text suitable for any age group. In our opinion the 16:00 matinees on Saturday, March 20 and Sunday, March 21 are the performances best suited to families with children.

Who wrote the musical Piccole donne?

Piccole donne il musical is based on the novel by Louisa May Alcott, with book by Allan Knee and music by Jason Howland. The Italian version by Compagnia dell'Alba is by Gianfranco Vergoni, thanks to an agreement with Music Theatre International.

How do I get to Sala Umberto?

Sala Umberto is at via della Mercede 50, in the Colonna district, between piazza di Spagna and the Trevi Fountain. You get there on metro line A, Spagna or Barberini stops, and about 10 minutes on foot. A car is not recommended because the historic center is a limited traffic zone.

Who is Antonella Morea?

Antonella Morea, the headliner of Piccole donne at Sala Umberto, is a Neapolitan actress and singer born in 1956, discovered by Roberto De Simone for La Gatta Cenerentola. She has worked with Luca De Filippo, Carlo Giuffré and Vincenzo Salemme and was Mrs Brill in Mary Poppins the Musical.

Final advice on Piccole donne il musical at Sala Umberto

A classic of children's literature turned into a Broadway musical, an Abruzzo company that has been touring it around Italy since 2021, an actress who has been through 50 years of musical theater from De Simone to Mary Poppins, a compact hall among the shopping streets of the historic center. My advice is to choose the matinee if you go as a family and the evening show if you go among adults, to book early for the weekend and to arrive with an idea of the March sisters' story: on the way out there will be something to discuss, across generations, about which of the four girls is most like whom.

Article written by the editorial team of Tour Leader Pro. Contact them for Private/Corporate/V.I.P. Tours and Experiences.

Planning a trip to Rome? The English guides to visiting the city are on ItalyPlanner.com.