Thesceneggiata (pronounced[ʃenedˈdʒaːta], pl. sceneggiate) orsceneggiata napoletana (pronounced[ʃenedˈdʒaːatanapoleˈtaːna]) is a form of musicaldrama typical ofNaples. Beginning as a form ofmusical theatre afterWorld War I, it was also adapted for cinema;sceneggiata films became especially popular in the 1970s, and contributed to the genre becoming more widely known outside Naples.[2] The most famous actors who played dramas wereMario Merola,Mario Trevi, andNino D'Angelo.[3]
Thesceneggiata can be roughly described as a "musical soap opera", where action and dialogue are interspersed withNeapolitan songs. Plots revolve aroundmelodramatic themes drawing from the Neapolitan culture and tradition, including passion, jealousy, betrayal, personal deceit and treachery, honor, vengeance, and life in the world of petty crime. Songs and dialogue were originally inNeapolitan dialect, although, especially in filmic production,Italian has sometimes been preferred, to reach a larger audience. Outside Italy,sceneggiata is mostly known in areas populated byItalian immigrants. Besides Naples, the second homeland ofsceneggiata is probablyLittle Italy inNew York City.[4]
Thesceneggiata has its roots in cheap, popular theatrical performances, and scholars believe that economic considerations were decisive in its development.[5] This is also true of the genre's most commonly identified forerunners, such as the works ofPasquale Altavilla (1806–1875), who developed many of his comedies around successful songs to appeal to a larger audience. AfterWorld War I, the Italian government increased the taxation ofvariety shows, thus causing many authors to devise a mixed type of show that would complement songs with dramatic acting, in order to circumvent such duties.[5] Thisescamotage is sometimes credited toEnzo Lucio Murolo, who explicitly wrote the song "Surriento gentile" with the intent to create asceneggiata around it and bring it to theatres in that form (thesceneggiata was performed by the Cafiero-Fumo company in 1920).[6]
One of the first known examples ofsceneggiata isPupatella (1918), based on the eponymous song byLibero Bovio, and performed by the theatre company led byGiovanni D'Alessio. In the following years thesceneggiata quickly developed with the advent of dedicated companies, such as that founded bySalvatore Cafiero (formerly a variety show author) andEugenio Fumo (formerly a popular dramatist), and dedicated venues, such as theTrianon andSan Ferdinando theatres, that became "temples" of the genre.[6] The Cafiero-Fumo company (which starred, among others,Nino Taranto) largely contributed to establishing the genre's parameters. The typicalsceneggiata included monologues, dialogues, songs, dancing, and its plot was centered on strong emotions such as love, passion, jealousy, honor, betrayal, adultery, vengeance, and the fight between good and evil. A standard pattern was that of the "triangle" comprisingisso ("he", the hero),essa ("she", the heroine) and'o malamente ("the villain").[7][6]
Sceneggiata remained extremely popular in Naples from the 1920s throughout to the 1940s. This era was dominated by a relatively small number of authors, calledpoeti di compagnia ("company poets") who wrote most of the screenplays; those includedEnzo Lucio Murolo (1898–1975),Oscar Di Maio,Gaspare di Maio (1872–1930), andRaffaele Chiurazzi.
In this golden era of thesceneggiata, the genre was also exported abroad, especially in communities of Italian immigrants of Neapolitan origin.New York City'sLittle Italy, most nostably, became a sort of second homeland of thesceneggiata, with notable companies such asMaggio-Coruzzolo-Ciaramella,Marchetello-Diaz, and that led byGilda Mignonette (1890–1953), the so-called "Queen of Emigrants".[8]
Besides being performed in theatres,sceneggiate were adapted for film since the early years of cinematography. The prominentsceneggiatamovie studio wasMiramare Film, founded byEmanuele Rotonno, that between 1919 and 1927 produced over 100 largely successful movies. This era ofsceneggiata films, by the way, established a tradition of movies based on hit songs, which remained in Italian film making long after the decline ofsceneggiata itself. One of the best known developments of this tradition is themusicarello subgenre that became popular in the 1950s–1960s in Italy, whereby many popular singer and singer-songwriters (e.g.,Gianni Morandi,Al Bano,Adriano Celentano,Little Tony, and others) would also be actors in movies linked to their major hits.
Thesceneggiata almost disappeared acrossWorld War II. In 1969, a single theatre in Naples (the Teatro Duemila) was continuing this tradition.
Nevertheless, in the 1970s the genre had a new boost. While this revival was mostly driven by successfulsceneggiata films starring popular singers/actors such asMario Merola,Mario Trevi, andNino D'Angelo,sceneggiata also reappeared in theatres. Merola, in particular, became so popular with movies such asSgarro alla camorra orZappatore (the most successfulsceneggiata film ever) to earn the title of "king of sceneggiata".[1] Especially outside Naples, Merola is by far the best known representative of thesceneggiata genre and he is often mentioned to refer tosceneggiata throughantonomasia.
Sgarro alla camorra (i.e. "Offence to theCamorra", 1973), in particular, written and directed byEttore Maria Fizzarotti and starringMario Merola at his film debut, is regarded as the firstsceneggiata film and as a prototype for the genre.[9][10] It was shot inCetara,province of Salerno.[10]
The revival era ofsceneggiata, too, had its "company poets", who worked either for theatres, films, or both. Prominent representatives of this generation ofsceneggiata authors includeAlberto Sciotti (1925–1998),Aniello Langella (1919–1995),Francesco Martinelli,Elena Cannio, andGaetano Di Maio (1927–1991).
The canons within which the themes brought to the stage by the authors of the Neapolitan sceneggiate are well defined, such as love, betrayal, honor - sometimes the underworld -, summarized in the trinomial of protagonists:[11]
