Orfeo 9

Music: Tito Schipa Jr. (2)
Lyrics: Tito Schipa Jr. (2)
Book: Tito Schipa Jr. (2)
Type: Musical
Source: Rock opera based on the myth of Orpheus
Notes: It's Italy's first rock opera and the first rock opera ever to be staged.
Plot: Orpheus lives in a community of people set far away from the industrial city. He is the only one who is not happy, always searching for something he's not even able to describe. One day a silent girl appears. Her name is Eurydice. She is the Reality, the answer to all of Orpheus' doubts. They get married, but during the ceremony a strange character approaches the boy. He is the Happiness' Seller, who manages to cheat Orpheus' by "selling him" Eurydice, who was already his (a metaphor of drugs and addiction). In that precise moment he loses her, and there begins a journey. Many encounters follow, where everyone tries to offer Orpheus' his own vision of happiness, but the boy's too busy looking back to realize. He finally finds her in Hell City, but his habit of looking back prevents him from recognizing the girl.
Premiere: January 23, 1970