The Glorious Ones is a dazzling backstage musical about the lives, loves, ambitions and art of the performers in a roving commedia dell'arte troupe in 16th-century Italy. Based on the novel by Francine Prose, the musical dramatizes how the troupe came to be and how it captured the public's adoration with its bawdy comedy and raunchiness, [IMG:L]before changing artistic fashion altered its way of life. Its seven archetypal characters are the charismatic leading man, the sly harlequin, the quack "dottore," the old miser, the earthy maidservant, the devoted dwarf and the beautiful maiden. The musical chronicles the characters' lives, their passions and their quest for theatrical immortality.
A timeless tribute to the art of acting set in the Italian Renaissance, The Glorious Ones features a romantic, lyrical score by the award-winning team of Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens (Ragtime, Once on This Island, Dessa Rose, Seussical, A Man of No Importance, My Favorite Year), directed and choreographed by their frequent collaborator Graciela Daniele.