Teatro Marrucino in Chieti is set to open its 2026 opera season with Cericola’s “Le Avventure di Pinocchio.”

The production, which runs from Sept. 24 through 26, returns to the Chieti stage for the first time since its 2003 premiere there.

The work has since toured internationally with performances in Athens, Milan, Turin, Palermo, Catanzaro, Mesagne, Ascoli Piceno, Lanciano, Sulmona, Ortona and the Ancient Theatre of Taormina.

The cast includes Samuele Lattanzi as Pinocchio, Minkyung Park as the Blue Fairy, Carlo Giacchetta and Mickael Santoro alternating as Geppetto, Emanuele Rosetti as the Fire Eater, Kevin Paoltroni as Candlewick, Shipeng Xu as the Cat, and Massimo Di Michele as the Talking Cricket and narrator. The production is performed by the Tosti Symphony Orchestra of Ortona under the artistic direction of Maestro Angelucci, with children’s choirs from the “L. D’Annunzio” Conservatory of Pescara and Comprehensive Institute 3 of Chieti.

Danilo Proaia directs the production, with sets and costumes by Simona Ferri in collaboration with the Antonio Cericola Academy of Arts.