Towards the end of our evening in Racalmuto, where Leonardo Sciascia grew up, we ran into a jolly man who wanted to show us around town. He graciously let us into the Teatro comunale, a cultural center where, partially thanks to Sciascia, many major performers toured, even though Racalmuto is a small place.
The circular theater was adorable — the picture does it no justice — and the boxes that surrounded us displayed flamboyant costumes that belonged to a prominent local tenor. But this was a nice visit because Ghibgli and I were coaxed into singing onstage, which was a lovely experience. At first, I was like, “non penso proprio,” but then I realized it might be fun.
And it was! I’d never gotten the chance to sing with Ghibgli before, and we sang “Wild Mountain Thyme,” which is one of my favorite folk songs. Tori showed us up a few days later, however, when she hit some gorgeous high notes in an old Roman quarry outside of Siracusa. –AG