Donizetti like Atalanta? According to Umberto Orsini, there is a connection between the successes of the football team and the city's most important theater: the actor, one of the masters of Italian theater, now happily ninety years old, shared the applause with Franco Branciaroli from over 7,000 spectators who attended the eight performances from Saturday, December 7 to Sunday, December 15. Even in the last matinee performance on Sunday, the two great actors were repeatedly called back on stage. And with them the rest of the cast - Flavio Francucci, Chiara Stoppa, Eros Pascale, and Emanuela Saccardi - who, under the prestigious direction of Massimo Popolizio, brought Neil Simon's brilliant comedy The Sunshine Boys to Bergamo, the opening show of the 2024/2025 Prose Season of the Donizetti Theater Foundation. "The new Prose Season has started in the best possible way, driven by the 5,770 subscribers, over 11% more than the previous season," comments Massimo Boffelli, General Director of the Donizetti Theater Foundation, "The increase from seven to eight performances was necessary to reach and satisfy our ever-growing audience, who responded with enthusiasm." For Maria Grazia Panigada, Artistic Director of the Prose Season and Other Paths, "The Sunshine Boys was the right show to start a new adventure. We are happy that the audience appreciated this proposal, and we are confident they will also enjoy the upcoming ones: the emotions have just begun." "There has always been a great audience in Bergamo, which has also increased in recent years. Today, in relation to the population, it is the most theatrical city in Italy," observes Umberto Orsini, who had been absent from Donizetti for about ten years, "In Bergamo, there are two important realities: Atalanta and Donizetti. I don't know if the two are related, but when a theater works, the football team also achieves success. Maybe because husbands go to the stadium while wives prefer to go to the theater... Jokes aside, today Atalanta is at the top of the league, and so is Donizetti. It's a wonderful record!" Franco Branciaroli, who had to wait only a few months to return to the Donizetti Theater after the success of " The Merchant of Venice last spring, expresses satisfaction: "It is a great pleasure to return to Donizetti: there is no other theater in Italy that can boast such a high number of subscribers. Here is one of the best audiences in all of Italy. In Rome, we do two weeks of performances, in Bergamo a little less. And this means that there is extraordinary work behind those who choose the shows and those who work within the theater itself. Thank you, Bergamo: we hope to see you again soon!"