The year 2026 is approaching and the Donizetti Theater Foundation is preparing to welcome it in the best possible way with two now traditional events. On the evening of Dec. 31 (10 p.m.) at the Donizetti Theater, the singers and dancers of the BIT Company will present the musical The Dream Factory, a journey into the world of Alice, Aladdin, Mary Poppins, The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast in the company of Oniricus, the Merchant of Dreams. At the stroke of midnight, toasts in the historic halls of the city’s main theater. Tickets: 40 to 80 euros.

On the morning of the first day of 2026, the Social Theater (11 a.m.) will instead host the traditional New Year’s Concert with theItalian Philharmonic Orchestra.

The Dream Factory is a show designed for the whole family, with enchanting costume changes, danced, acted and sung live. Viewers will be taken to faraway lands, enchanted castles and through stormy seas, where raging waves crash on reefs of wondrous mermaids. The Dream Factory is the factory everyone has always dreamed of. It is the factory where all our imagination is produced, to bring to life what has always been alive within us but which we often forget. The dreams left behind, which are believed to belong only to childhood, are actually the key to access the deepest truths and give space to the intensity of emotions. In the dream factory, building dreams costs nothing; in this magical place people work to give dreams to those who have stopped dreaming. And so one can get on Aladin’s flying carpet to the East, or ride through enchanted forests and kingdoms, enter the forest of the Lion King or fly with Mary Poppins. In the BIT company’s show all the magic of theater occurs: the dream comes true on stage, in the lights and colors of the costumes; the dreamers are the spectators, but also the performers who represent all those fairy tale characters so dear to minds that for a moment, just a moment, can once again become free to fantasize. Direction and choreography by Melina Pellicano. Music adaptations by Marco Caselle. Costumes by Marco Caudera. Starring Mario Levis as Oniricus.

The New Year’s Concert will be a journey through the masterpieces of Johann Strauss II and Johann Strauss I. The waltzes, polkas and marches that made the Strauss dynasty famous will be performed by the Italian Philharmonic Orchestra, creating an atmosphere of pure magic and elegance. The Strauss family has left an indelible mark on the history of Viennese music, giving the world some of the most famous waltzes and polkas of all time. Johann Strauss II, known as the “Waltz King,” composed masterpieces such as “On the Beautiful Blue Danube” and “Voices of Spring,” which evoke images of elegance and festivity. His father, Johann Strauss I, created the famous “Radetzky-Marsch,” a piece that embodies the martial and patriotic spirit of the era. The Orchestra Filarmonica Italiana features a vast repertoire that includes not only melodramatic, symphonic, chamber and choreographic offerings, but also less mainstream and more contemporary productions. In fact, to appreciate it there are not only the traditional Italian “theatrical circuits,” but also more transversal spaces and audiences capable of appreciating the contribution that a professional orchestra guarantees to almost any musical style.