‘Made in Italy’ opens Theatre Calgary’s new season with heartwarming family history

Update: Due to demand, Theatre Calgary has announced it is holding over Made in Italy for an extra week.

The production now runs through to September 27 instead of closing on the 21^st.

Theatre Calgary is opening its 2025–26 season with an encore that audiences demanded.

Farren Timoteo’s one-man comedy Made in Italy first played here in 2023 and completely sold out. Now, it’s back at the Martha Cohen Theatre to kick off the new season — and mark the show’s 300th performance.

“From the artist’s perspective I can only really express gratitude that we have been invited back to Calgary because that’s not something that’s usually in my control,” Timoteo said. “Things went so well the first time and audiences created such a lovely connection with the piece that Theatre Calgary felt that there was room to do the show again.”

“There seems to be a lot of excitement and energy with audiences here in Calgary for Made in Italy,” he added.

The semi-autobiographical story follows Salvatore, who immigrates from Italy to Jasper in the 1950s, and his son Francesco, who comes of age in the disco-fueled 1970s.

Over the course of the show, Timoteo embodies more than two dozen characters including family members, neighbours, and even icons like Rocky Balboa and John Travolta.

“It’s kind of adapted from my family’s experiences,” he explained. “I believe my grandfather came to Alberta as a result of following the railroad, following work. He had somebody here in the province who was vouching for him and had lined something up for him so that’s how he got here and then that’s where he stayed.”

And of all places, Jasper became the family’s new home.

“In the 50s they found themselves living in Jasper, and so that part is lifted from reality,” Timoteo said.

Made in Italy will mark it’s 300^th performance in Calgary. The show first premiered in Kamloops in 2016. But not much has changed.

“As for whether or not the show has changed — it’s frighteningly similar to the moment we opened it,” Timoteo admitted. “The text really hasn’t changed too much… it is the same script and the same characters and the same staging, the same set design — though a bit more deluxe than when we started.”

“The truth is I try not to muck with it too much because it’s something that I’ve experienced works with audiences and I feel a bit sacred about that,” he added.

Made in Italy runs Aug. 26 to Sept. 21 at Theatre Calgary’s Martha Cohen Theatre.

If you want to see it, buy tickets ASAP. As it is likely to again, completely sell out.