In the sacristy of Perugia's 4th century church of San Domenico last week, portraits of four Popes looked down on theatrical make-up men applying wigs and beards. Outside, photographers crowded into the pulpit. On a wooden stage below them, flanked by a large orchestra and chorus, a troupe of 50 dancers went through the first performance of Leonide Massine's Laudes Evangelii, a ballet "mystery play" depicting the story of Christ.
San Domenico had not been so closely involved in a theatrical production since medieval days. Never so far as Vatican authorities could...
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