Franco Zeffirelli Intl. Center to open in Florence

FLORENCE, ITALY – A center dedicated to Italian director Franco Zeffirelli was opened in Florence.

The Franco Zeffirelli International Center for the Performing Arts hosted a Zeffirelli preview in these days of its exhibits, housed in a former Florence courthouse near Palazzo Vecchio and Uffizi.

Some 300 original sketches by the director and more than a dozen costumes used in his operas are displayed. The Inferno Room features a multimedia recreation of Zeffirelli sketches that were inspired by Dante’s “Divine Comedy.”

Franco Zeffirelli, born 12 February 1923, is known for several of the movies he has directed, especially the 1968 version of Romeo and Juliet, for which he received an Academy Award nomination. His 1967 version of The Taming of the Shrew with Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton remains the best-known film adaptation of that play as well. His miniseries Jesus of Nazareth (1977) won acclaim and is still shown on Christmas and Easter in many countries.

On July 31st, Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli inaugurated the Franco Zeffirelli International Center of the Performing Arts, but the 94-year-old film and theater director’s ill health meant he had to miss the gala event.