“The extraordinary story” of the musical “Bernadette of Lourdes”, which begins its international tour in Rome, Italy

“The extraordinary story” of the musical “Bernadette of Lourdes”, which begins its international tour in Rome, Italy
“The extraordinary story” of the musical “Bernadette of Lourdes”, which begins its international tour in Rome, Italy

the essential
After its success in , the musical “Bernadette de Lourdes” is now exported internationally. A tour of Italy begins this week, before the United States and other countries in 2026.

For several weeks, the “storia straordinaria” (the extraordinary story) of Bernadette of Lourdes has been on display in the streets of Rome. And for good reason: the musical comedy of the same name, whose first performance took place in 2019 in the Marian city, is coming to the Conciliation Auditorium for a month, a stone’s throw from the Vatican… After a free preview in front of 1,600 “poor” people from the capital, the Italian version of the show will be performed officially for the first time this Thursday, January 16. The start of a brand new adventure for this musical comedy which was a hit in France, with more than 450,000 spectators in total, many of whom were moved to tears by the story of the young Lourdaise.

“It was a huge success, confirms Roberto Ciurleo, one of the co-producers of “Bernadette de Lourdes” with notably Éléonore de Galard and Gad Elmaleh. It was already a gamble to release this show from Lourdes but we have to see that it pleases It is a universal work, not a Catholic show for Catholics, but a real police investigation to find out whether Bernadette is a liar or not following the appearances of the Virgin Mary in the Massabielle cave.” The musical highlights in particular the young girl’s determination to defend her truth during the long interrogations carried out by the police and the ecclesiastical authorities…

Italy but also the United States, Mexico, Poland…

A touching story that the Vatican even designates as the official show of the 2025 Jubilee and that the Italian public can’t wait to discover since the first performance is already sold out. “It’s still a new challenge for us, we’re starting from scratch in a way, says Roberto Ciurleo. The casting is no longer the same (apart from David Bàn who still plays Bernadette’s father in Italian), the public is not. more and there is a whole new communication to do. We also had to adapt the texts of the songs, and make additions to make it easier for the public to understand… The show is in fact 90% the same as in France, but in. Italian.”

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After a month in Rome, the musical will then tour throughout Italy, including Naples, Bari and Turin, which will end in the capital for the end of the Jubilee. And in 2026? Heading for the United States with performances in Boston, Chicago and of course New York with Broadway. Here again, it will be a completely different casting but with, as in the French version, Eyma Scharen to play Bernadette.

Producers from other countries have also purchased the license for “Bernadette de Lourdes” in order to reproduce the musical identically but in another language. Thus, a Polish version will see the light of day in 2026 and a Spanish version will be on tour in Mexico in 2027. And others should still follow… “The show is going all over the world. It’s never been seen for almost 40 years (Les Misérables) for a musical of French origin, breathes, not without pride, the co-producer Personally, I have been working on this project for 15 years. would arrive there today…” Roberto Ciurleo does not forget the Marian city. He promises: “We will return to Lourdes soon”.

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