Arturo awaits you in Edinburgh from July 31st to August 25th, with many dates

(LEGGO – 11/04/2018 – OLGA BATTAGLIA)

Many have tried to imitate him, no one has succeeded. Because Arturo Brachetti is not only the undisputed master of quick change, he is first and foremost an irreverent wizard who struts and frets his hour upon the stage with the speed of his transformist genius and the shameless grace of an eternal child.

In addition to the prodigious techniques and the tricks of the trade (the patents of his costumes are covered by absolute secrecy), inside this sixty year old Peter Pan there are massive doses of theatrical fantasy. . His new one-man show, tonight to Sunday at Arcimboldi, is titled “Solo”, but he won’t be exactly alone in this. True, he’ll be the only man on stage, but the characters at play will be fifty at least.

They will appear and disappear in a few seconds, giving life to a frenetic swirl of stories, situations, paradoxes. One costume after another, Brachetti is multiplied and transformed in the presence of a miniature house, symbol and metaphor of childhood, the most beautiful of ages. Seven rooms the public can immerse themselves into, thanks to a system of filming and projections, accompanying Arturo in chasing dreams, memories and desires.

(CENTRAL PALC – 09/02/2018 – ILARIA FARAONI)

After making its debut in Paris the new one man show by and with Arturo Brachetti arrived at Teatro Sistinain Rome (where he will remain until 18 February): his “Solo”.

And there must be a reason if, after so many years, in seeing a show by Brachetti, transformist par excellence, the amazement is intact and the question on everyone’s lips is always the same “But how does he..?”. Standing ovation applauses were numerous, on the evening of the first performance (February 7th).

It is not for nothing that the artist has been included in the Guinness Book of Records as the most prolific and fastest transformer in the world. To his credit Mr. Brachetti also has a Molière award (the French analogue to a Tony Award), a Laurence Olivier Award, and was dubbed Knight of the Arts and Labor by the French Minister of Culture and Commendatore by former Italian President Napolitano.

But there is not only his quick change mastery, in this SOLO: there is the equally astonishing chapeaugraphie, a technique with which Brachetti succeeds in transforming a hat with a hole in the middle – «You have to fill the hole with imagination», his grandfather would have told him – in 25 different headgears and as many characters: it is for him as simple as bending the fabric with a couple of gestures.

And there’s more: the art of creating real paintings with sand (sand painting), there’s shadow puppetry, there is the use of the latest laser technologies – that the artist had already presented us in the show “Brachetti, what a surprise!” – to create incredible sci-fi atmospheres in the vein of Matrix or Tron. The use of the laser alone, however, would not be enough were it not for the extraordinary skill of Brachetti, Kevin Michael Moore (the mischievous, Peter Pan-esque human shadow accompanying him through the story) and of the entire technical sector, who manage to coordinate perfectly with the human/laser interaction, obtaining very realistic results with a great visual impact, including flight.

Then there is dream and magic (in the broadest sense of the term) that permeate the whole show, transporting the audience in a world suspended by itself, the personal world of Brachetti, which linked the various moments of the show (which would, to be fair, hold up on their own anyway) via the central idea of ​​the miniature house, one “of my memories, of my dreams, of my fears”, as the artist explains to the audience from the stage.

With a mini-camera that projects images directly on screen, one enters the various rooms (seven in total) and through symbolic objects, which will then return at the end of the show, the showman takes us on a journey that evokes the characters of the most popular Disney cartoons and the most famous international singers.

The use of video mapping, which integrates animated images and scenography, allowing Brachetti to enter directly into the pages of a fairytale book or fly very realistically on the Aladdin carpet through the streets of an imaginary Agrabah, is designed to perfection, as are the lights, which allow certain spectacular and poetic effects.

One could still speak of the well-known references such as the paintings by Magritte, Monet or Van Gogh associated with the four seasons or the theme (very dear to the artist) of growth: Brachetti in fact claims he won’t grow old, but will continue to fly, to stoke the fires of imagination: an innermost desire that generates strife, only verbal at first, then physical, between him and his shadow. Or one could recall the poetry that permeates so many of the show’s visual paintings. With all the elements just listed, however, clash a few racier moments as the revisited deeds of Snow White or the tableau that takes place in a kitchen during a wedding. Of these parts the show could very well do without and not lose anything: it could perhaps even gain, since there are already plenty more effective moments of irony and fun.

So it’s better to focus on the tender and melancholic scene of Arturo’s dance with the memory of the flowered gown his mum had sewn, a dress that comes to life by literally flying during the dance.

For the umpteenth time, therefore, there is flight, which in this show is declined in various ways, thus remaining at the center of the whole 90 minutes act. So how could one think of Brachetti without associating him with Peter Pan, another central theme of SOLO? He does not only wear Peter’s clothes, but is also sort of an “Italian dad” to the character, seeing as the eponymous musical directed by Colombi was born in 2006 under the artistic direction of Brachetti, who left his very clear signature, one echoed in certain mesmerizing images of SOLO that stay with the audience.

(SPETTACOLO.EU – 09/02/2018 – IVAN ZINGARIELLO)

After the success of his “Man of a Thousand Faces”, seen by over 2 million spectators, the undisputed master of transformism Arturo Brachetti has returned to the Teatro Sistina enchanting the audience with a new one-man show, “Solo”. For the few who do not know Brachetti, his art is that of quick-change, that is to say the change of dress repeatedly within a couple seconds, even coming to impersonate 100 characters in a single show. This led him to become famous all over the world and to establish a Guinness World Records as the most prolific and fast quick-change artist in the world.

In “Solo”, Arturo Brachetti appears on stage accompanied by a miniature house, representing his childhood home. Through the use of a handycam we discover the various environments, each of which is linked to an anecdote of young Arturo’s life and his innate desire for magic. A new story is hidden behind every door of the miniature house. From the bedroom to the kitchen, even the bathroom, Brachetti accompanies the viewer in a magical world of memories and illusions, materializing characters and telling life stories and dreams, those inside each of us. Here are so many heroes from our shared childhood, from Red Riding Hood to Aladdin, from a politically incorrect Snow White to the princesses of Frozen, up to Shrek the Orc and Peter Pan with his rebel shadow: and it will be Brachetti’s own shadow, materialized on stage in a quest for independence, which will end up being his nemesis in an epic final clash. 60 new characters brought on stage by Brachetti for the first time: from big screen legends such as Marvel and DC superheroes, to the Ghostbusters, to music icons like Pavarotti, Celine Dion, Madonna, Michael Jackson or all fourBeatles, up to TV serie, from Happy Days to Star Trek, to Breaking Bad.

However, his characters are transversal and mostly comedic, as confirmed by the sort of amusing “Neapolitan drama” set in the kitchen, or the phases of life told sitting on the toilet. An integral part of the success of the show is undoubtedly the extensive use of special effects and the large led wall that allows the use of an engaging and highly sought after videomapping, with which Brachetti blends perfectly. But there’s more: “Italy’s most famous hair tuft” wanted to do things big, combining his lightning fast changes of clothes to more poetic and introspective moments, using other forms of entertainment such as the classic shadow puppetry or one of his flagship numbers, the chapeaugraphie (with the morphing “gaping hat”), to which he added new acts such as the dance of lasers or sand painting.

n incredible and pyrotechnic show that for 90 minutes will enchant spectators of all ages, because the Arturo Brachetti seen live is even more amazing than what we have had the opportunity to appreciate over the years on TV. So do not put limits on your imagination and let yourself be transported!

(CORRIERE DELLO SPETTACOLO DEL 08/02/2018 – PAOLO LEONE)

Arturo Brachetti at the Sistinaand it’s magic from the get go The great Turin artist, returns to the capital and enchants in his new show SOLO, of course through the wonders of “quick change” of which he is the undisputed master, but above all with poetry, with the ability to stage his boyish world and have it become that of his audience. It is no coincidence that Arturo often beats on the key of the struggle between the force of the rational, which drags to the ground, and that of the irrational, which allows the flight of the mind, admirably represented in the final fight with laser beams showering the stage, reminiscent of Matrix, between him and his “shadow”, the trusty Kevin Michael Moore. Each show by Brachetti petitions for the right to dream, reclaims the surreal beauty of remembrance and in Solo all this has increased a hundredfold thanks to his personal house of memories, on stage with him. It opens its doors, shows us interiors, exposes us to dreamy facts and interpretations thanks to its incredible transformist and illusionist performances, which never cease to amaze, not even after so many years of shows around the world. Brachetti is a timeless classic like the Sanremo Festival:it would be worth mentioning the concomitance of his stay at the Sistine with the unfolding of the singing festival.

Brachetti is Brachetti and we could end it here. But it must be said that in addition to the amazing transformations, he goes the extra mile and gifts us with that touch of bewitching poetry I mentioned at the beginning, with shadow puppetry, with sand painting, using videomapping that transforms the setting into a continuous, modern, surprise. An authentic show for all ages, with which to get excited as children, appreciating the great technological work and the crazy good team, for an hour and and a half of fun and amazement, with a great sense irony. All at a dizzying pace.

Yes, Arturo, you have once again won against the dark forces of rationality, indeed you have even convinced us it is nice to see you fly, giving all of us the certainty that you can grow old while remaining young, if you want it. For all this we can only For all this we can only say thank you. A show not to be missed.

(PRESTIGIAZIONE.IT – 06/02/2018 – FABIO CUCCÈ)

We venture on a journey inside Arturo’s house, represented on the stage by a model, in which the artist accompanies us with a micro-camera; we pass from the bedroom to the kitchen, from the attic to the bathroom, always looking for objects that come to life to evoke memories past.

Moments of pure magic, during quick change acts with which Arturo Brachetti has been able to create new stories and new subjects, ones very funny and challenging in their execution, (not that the other numbers are any less) such as the Neapolitan wedding, in which the artist impersonates by himself all the characters in the same scene, a true tribute to the great Fregoli!

The show is divided into paintings: we start from children fairy tales to dive into TV series from the ’80s, then a representation of the four seasons, and then a beautiful metaphor on how our life can be compared to a lunch with all its dishes, to get to a living jukebox with a playlist extracted from the mobile phone taken from a spectator’s bag; this show is a crescendo of emotions, with some moments of interaction with the public.

The idea of ​​doubling his shadow with an actor/dancer with whom Arturo interacts, is lovely, the lively shadow being is very reminiscent of Peter Pan.

Particularly poetic is a moment when the stage is invaded by his drawings through sand painting, a veritable open eyes fairy tale.

There is no shortage of the artist’s classics: his masterful shadow puppetry is always much appreciated by adults and children, and the chapeaugraphie, the art of giving life to characters (25 in this case) simply using a felt cloth pierced an audience he kept constantly entranced.

The show, which lasts 90 minutes, runs fast through a series of emotions, up to the number where, in a sort of battle between good and evil, a hail of lasers beam forth and Arturo literally flies through it.

The atmosphere created by the perfect interplay of lights, music and video-mapping is always very apt and takes the viewer on a mesmerizing journey.

The grand finale is noteworthy and, at the time of the applause, he presented all his assistants having them join him on stage: believe me, they are really so many…

A show that I highly recommend and would gladly see again! Thanks, Arturo!