La Bella Bimba! is an exciting new cabaret about immigration and traditions, about personal growth and funky pink feathers. We sat down with Lucrezia Galeone to discuss their upcoming production.
La Bella Bimba! plays at Barons Court Theatre 22nd – 23rd November. Tickets are available here.
How did your own experiences of living abroad influence the story and characters in La Bella Bimba!?
After graduating drama school in 2020, I discovered that unfortunately the creative industry is not as open to foreign artists as I thought it would be. I have also lived through episodes of mockery and been stereotyped since moving abroad. I felt neglected and rejected from this industry simply because of my foreign accent. I took inspiration and strength from this and, with my incredible co-creator Virginia Ruspini, started brainstorming a story that talked about culture, belonging and discrimination. Inspired by the huge Italian immigration wave towards America that took place in the 1920s, we wanted to create a piece that could convey the immigration experience to our audience while also giving a sense of home to all our fellow foreigners who have left their home country to build something new.
What drew you to explore Italian immigration and female friendship through cabaret and clowning rather than traditional theatre?
Throughout our training, my wonderful director, Molly Rolfe, and I both developed a passion for clowning, drag and cabaret. I am also a great fan of the work of Dario Fo and Franca Rame who believe that one of the best ways to send a message to your audience is through humour. We want our audience to have fun with our characters before discovering their harsh reality. I really wanted to include music in our show, and I saw this as a personal challenge for myself: I co-wrote five original songs with co-composer and arranger Ben Barrow which act as a storytelling tool as well as catchy tunes that bring our audience into the roaring 20s.
The show is bilingual, blending Italian and English—how do you use language to shape humour and emotional connection with the audience?
Inspired by Dario Fo’s Mistero Buffo, I used Grammelot for this show. Grammelot is an invented language, created by medieval actors who would tour European courts. These actors didn’t have the time to learn the different languages of the courts, but invented this made-up language that sounded like the one spoken by the court they were acting in. Grammelot is really funny when mixed with clowning, music or physical theatre, and we found that it perfectly fit into our show. The choice of the characters mostly speaking Italian is daring, but we wanted to leave our audience with this question: How important is language? We believe you can convey drama, humour and storytelling without full understanding of words if you connect with the audience.
La Bella Bimba! is set in 1920s New York, a time of both glamour and hardship for immigrants. How did you approach recreating that era’s atmosphere on stage?
I was always fascinated by the 1920s: for the fashion, the music, the silent films and for how it was such a progressive time in so many ways. Our way into bringing the 20s on stage is mostly through music as well as the style of the choreographies on stage. Our characters dream of becoming part of the Ziegfield Follies, which was the main theatre company on Broadway at the time. We got inspired by their costumes and choreographies and decided to bring our own version of them with an Italian twist.
The production combines music, vaudeville, and physical comedy. How do you balance these elements to keep the story cohesive and emotionally resonant?
Our show creates a connection with our audience through clowning and humour in the first part of our show. We focused on getting the audience on our side and hopefully to root for our main characters through audience participation and musical numbers. We bring our spectators to the dream world of our characters but in the end they’re faced with the harsh reality of being an immigrant woman in 1920s New York City.
What do you hope audiences will take away from La Bella Bimba! about identity, belonging, and joy in the face of displacement?
Firstly, I really hope that our audience has a great time. We want to take them away from 2025 London and dive back into a very different era where they can fully immerse themselves alongside our characters as well as our live band. Secondly, when our audience leaves the theatre, we want them to reflect. Now more than ever being an immigrant in the UK can be quite scary, with no certain proof of calling this place home for the future. What was happening more than a hundred years ago is still happening today. We want to celebrate Italy and bring a part of our culture that will hopefully leave our audience wanting to learn more about it, without falling into the classic stereotypes but rather truly lived experiences.