Variety · Rai 1 · with Giorgio Panariello

Panariello Show.

For a Giorgio Panariello show on Rai 1 we rebuilt a classical Italian-style theatre inside a TV studio — three-tier boxes, luminous arched windows, red stalls.

Story

One act

The Italian-style theatre
in the Rai studio.

Giorgio Panariello is one of the historic showmen of Rai prime time: from the huge success of Torno Sabato in 2000 (which won him the Telegatto and TV Oscar as personality of the year) to his return with Panariello sotto l'albero in December 2013, all the way to the showman-trio with Carlo Conti and Leonardo Pieraccioni in 2020. His hallmark is the Italian classical-narrative variety show, with live orchestra and recurring characters.

For one of his shows we built the set of a classical Italian-style theatre rebuilt to the scale of a Rai studio. The structure is that of a nineteenth-century playhouse: three-tier boxes with a central loggia, black-and-gold twisted columns, balustrades with gilded scrolls, a side wall with large arched windows backlit with scattered points of light for a starlight effect, stalls with padded red seats.

It is the theatre as a narrative device of variety TV: the classical frame that gives depth to the acts, the audience in the stalls framed by the director as part of the show, the live orchestra visually held by the theatre set. An Italian tradition running through decades of Rai 1, from Domenica in to the great variety shows of Mike Bongiorno and Pippo Baudo.

Frontal view of the theatre set rebuilt for a Giorgio Panariello show on Rai 1: three-tier boxes with central loggia, black-and-gold twisted columns alternating with lattice wall and luminous circles, gilded balustrades, backlit arched windows, in the foreground the stalls with padded red seats, central staircase to the stage — **Frontal view.** Three-tier boxes with central loggia and red stalls

Side wall of the set with three large backlit arched windows: walls in sand-coloured faux stone ashlar, windows with round-arched stone frames, glass panes with a starlight effect of pale blue light points like stars in the night sky, central balustrade on the first floor — **Three arched windows.** Starlight effect with pale blue points of light

Interior view of the theatre set: central stage in light wood in the middle, double-tier loggia with box-balconies, black lattice structure on the walls, service lighting from the build, the back of the scene still being finished — **Interior view.** The central wooden stage and the loggia

Behind the scenes

The tradition of variety
in the studio.

Rebuilding an Italian-style theatre in a Rai studio means sculpting three things together: the geometry of the historic stage, the chromatic grammar of classical black-and-gold, and the ambient light of a nineteenth-century playhouse. All in fibreglass, polystyrene and polychrome paint.

The three-tier boxes

The boxes are load-bearing metal structures clad with fibreglass panels over polystyrene: three stacked tiers that recall La Scala, the San Carlo, the great Italian playhouses. The balustrades have gilded scrolls carved in relief, the twisted columns are in faux stone patinated in black-and-gold through successive glazes of lacquer and bronze.

The starlight windows

The three arched windows of the side wall are backlit with LED panels dotted with scattered points of light: starlight effect, simulating the night sky seen through a glasshouse of a noble palace. Frames in round-arched faux stone, leaded glass sculpted into the design. They are the light source that gives the set its lighting depth.

The red stalls

The padded red seats of the stalls are the popular counterpart to the classical stage: theatre red, stylised velvet, row after row like a real auditorium. Panariello's direction often frames them from the audience toward the stage — it is the spectator's point of view brought into TV, a quotation of the Rai prime-time tradition of luxury variety shows.

3 tiers

of stacked boxes like a great nineteenth-century playhouse

Rai 1

the historic channel of Italian classical variety

Black-and-gold

the codified palette of the Italian-style theatre

Set details

The wings of the
classical theatre.

Photos from our archive of the set during construction and installation.

Detail of the set during finishing: close-up view of a black-and-gold twisted column with faux stone base, lattice wall with luminous circles in the background, gilded balustrade visible above, atmosphere of a TV studio with service lights — Detail of the twisted column and the gilded balustrade

Second life

A tradition
running through decades.

The classical theatre set is one of the most recurring archetypes of Rai prime time: every great variety show — from Mike Bongiorno to Pippo Baudo, from Panariello to Carlo Conti — has its own version of the theatre auditorium rebuilt in the studio. Our set carried Panariello's show through its broadcast recordings, was struck at the end of the programme, and the most carefully crafted pieces (twisted columns, gilded balustrades, starlight windows) returned to our workshops.

The Italian-style theatre techniques honed here — twisted columns in faux stone patinated black-and-gold, modular three-tier boxes, backlit starlight windows — have entered our repertoire for the other classical prime-time variety shows we work on. We find them applied across other theatrical scenography projects for Italian TV.

Tech sheet

All production data

Type: Scenographic set for a TV variety show · classical Italian-style theatre rebuilt in a Rai studio
Host: Giorgio Panariello
Channel: Rai 1 · prime time
Tradition of reference: Italian classical variety on Rai: from Torno Sabato (2000, Telegatto + TV Oscar) to Panariello sotto l'albero (2013) to Panariello-Conti-Pieraccioni Show (2020)
Set architecture: Three-tier boxes with central loggia · Twisted columns in faux stone patinated black-and-gold in glazes · Gilded balustrades with carved scrolls · Three arched windows backlit with a starlight effect of pale blue light points · Stalls with padded red seats and a central staircase to the stage
Techniques: Load-bearing metal frame · fibreglass panels on polystyrene cores · stuccoing for the bas-reliefs · oil marbling for the black-and-gold · lime faux stone for the windows · LED point lights for the starlight effect
Our role: Full build of the classical theatre scenography rebuilt in the studio — columns, boxes, balustrades, starlight windows, stalls
Second life: Set struck after the show · some elements (twisted columns, balustrades) kept in our workshops for the scenographic archive

Panariello Show.

The three-tier boxes

The starlight windows

The red stalls

A traditionrunning through decades.

A tradition
running through decades.