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LA GIARA - (la gee-ahr-a) The Water Jug

A curse follows rascal Nunzio from Sicily to America after he breaks a treasured family water jug, releasing a mythological water spirit, Anapos. Nunzio must flees and years later, the curse emerges full force when abusive Nunzio forbids his daughter, Norma’s star-crossed love. Norma decides to run away, bringing along her sister and mother, ultimately changing their family’s destiny. Sicilian Water God/dess, Anapos watches over their journey as the women seek their independence and to overcome their family curse.

La Giara, a true Philadelphia story told in magical realism, is based on the composer-author’s auto-biographical work, which addresses themes of immigration, oppression, mental illness, and sexism that her Sicilian family experienced in adapting to a new world.

La Giara confronts issues of cultural losses that are at once American and universal, and resonant in this moment as we are reminded that for many, we are the last generation with ties to our original culture.

LA GIARA STORY:

The Minissale family is seemingly fractured beyond repair, much like Aunt Vincenza’s la giara - the family water jug that young, arrogant Nunzio shattered long ago in Sicily in an incident believed to have irreparably cursed his family and the release of Sicilian Water God/dess, Anapos. Anapos is assigned by the Gods to help the family resolve their curse, using shadow puppetry, water imagery and mirrors to illuminate their journey and put the pieces back together.

Soon after breaking the jar, Nunzio, an enigmatic, layered villain, flees from Sicily to America where he encounters Aunt Vincenza’s beautiful daughter, Annunziata. He woos her with countless love letters until they marry. They raise their two daughters, Norma and Mimi who are expected to work long hours in the family’s Chez Marie Bridal Shop where they perform the choreographed song, CHEZ MARIE, accompanied by instruments and percussion, assimilating the sewing machines’ rhythmic sounds.

Nunzio is a maladjusted, tyrannical patriarch who is simultaneously loved, loathed, and feared by his family. When Nunzio betrays Annunziata she sings the sad balled, BROKEN PROMISES and vows to shut her heart from her unfaithful husband. The three women suffocate in the severely strict household, especially after Nunzio forbids Norma to see her true love, and his volatile character is revealed in song, THROW YOU TO THE LIONS. Only Norma is deeply in love, represented in a duo love song, ISN’T IT LOVE?, and secretly plans to run away, using the Chez Marie Dress Shop to pack her bags. When Mimi discovers Norma’s plan, she decides to join her sister, but then, reveals the secret to mother, Annunziata who instantly responds that she is coming, also! The three women hop a West-bound train under false identities, bidding a defiant goodbye in the samba driven song, NO MORE!, ending ACT one on a high note.

Nunzio’s women are enjoying their independence until Nunzio tracks them down in Colorado with the help of a private investigator. Wealthy Nunzio lures his family back by offering a magnificent mansion to live, full of gilded mirrors, fountains, and singing birds. Momentarily, Nunzio wins control over his women, but with time, the Minnisale women come to regard their gilded palazzo as no better than an opulent prison they yearn to escape. Norma remains defiant and breaks family tradition by marrying a young American Captain and moving far way, while Mimi is left behind, loveless and alone in the mansion with her parents. Obedient Mimi, the one most affected by the curse of the Water Jar, collapses, as she sings the tragic song, WATER. Nunzio realizes the damage he has caused and vows to change for the better. The family begins to make amends, and as expected in Italian culture, they make peace by celebrating where they are at their best - in Annunziata’s kitchen, where all sing, A LITTLE PINCH OF THIS AND THAT.

La Giara is full of idiosyncrasies and superstitions that permeate many immigrant families caught, culturally, between two worlds— striving for success in the new, yearning for the familiar customs of the old. In this immigrant family saga, the recurring theme of longing is present throughout. The melancholic song, LONGING opens and ends the story, reminding us of our own longing for our original culture. In the end, Anapos guides family members to ultimately discover that, with love and care, families, like water jugs, can be put back together again.