Understanding Raffaella Carrà’s Love of Musical Theater

Five years after the entertainer’s death, a look into her own tributes to musical theater, from The West End to Broadway

This article is free because of the stature of Raffa.

Across cultures, we celebrate Raffaella Carrà as an all-around singer, dancer, and performer who put Italian pop culture on the global map; who could equally entice housewives, children, and queer audiences; and who put as much emphasis on the visual component as on the musical/performing component of her art.

Here, we covered her music and the costume designs she favored. Yet, five years after her death, we would be remiss in our duties as Italian-performing-arts cultural ambassadors (and makers, in the case of Beppe) if we did not analyze her love for musical theater—an art form that has permeated both her stage and TV performances over the decades, both via stylistic cues and direct tributes.

An important thing to remember is that Carrà was, first and foremost, a stage performer. She had professional and academic training both in dance and acting, and only included singing as an add-on, so it should come as no surprise at all that…