Delaware Theatre Company presents Victoria and Todd Buchholz’s Glory Ride

Brought vibrantly to life, Glory Ride is based on the true story of Italian cyclist Gino Bartali. With a strong book by theater veterans (and father-daughter team) Victoria Buchholz and Todd Buchholz and music and lyrics by Victoria, the show is having its American premiere following a 2023 sold-out run at London’s Charing Cross Theatre. Slightly fictionalized, Glory Ride retains the immediacy and suspense of the awe-inspiring feat on which it’s based.

The anti-fascist biker

Bartali (1914-2000) began racing in his teens and turned professional at 21. The Florentine soon became the national champion and Italy’s most renowned cyclist. In 1936 and 1937, Batali won the Giro d’Italia (a race of 2,200 miles over mountainous roads), and against all expectations in 1938 he triumphed in the Tour de France. After the war, Bartali added to his laurels, winning both the Giro and the Tour one more time. But in between these impressive victories, the devout Catholic (nicknamed “Gino the Pious”) led an equally impressive secret life.

In defiance of fascist travel bans, and wearing a racing jersey bearing his name, Bartali fearlessly traversed Italy, ostensibly on training rides. But in actuality, he was carrying documents and secret messages in the frame and handlebars of his cycle. For his wartime exploits, in 2011 he was awarded Italy’s Medaglia d’oro al merito civile, and in 2013 he was recognized as “Righteous among the Nations” by Israel’s Yad Vashem.

Set between 1938 and 1948, Glory Ride—brought to vivid life by an impressively strong company—follows Bartali throughout WWII. Matthew Amira, himself a long-distance cyclist and a fine singer, portrays Gino Bartali with passion and conviction. Gino’s cycling coach is his friend Mario (Sean Luc Rogers), but their paths diverge as the war intensifies and Bartali begins to work with pacifist Cardinal Dalla Costa (Gavin Gregory).

As he deepens his involvement with the Italian Resistance, Gino also deepens his relationship with photographer Adriana (Stephanie Prestage); tangles with fascist commander Graziani (Patrick Oliver Jones); meets Resistance leader Il Lupo (Jared Zirilli); and works closely with Giorgio (Matthew Michael Janisse) to forge the documents that enabled people to evade Mussolini’s police and flee the country. (At the preview I attended, Janisse was an announced and impressive substitute.)

A musical narrative

Glory Ride is brimming with song; there are 25 listed musical numbers. Score and lyrics are deeply intertwined with the plot, and often the songs move the narrative forward much like opera recitative. The production’s music is somewhat relentless, and so its nonmusical scenes are often a welcome change, and the play’s second act, stronger than the first, is more tightly constructed and more clearly focused.

Several comic numbers are interspersed in this compelling tale: the jazzy “Green Eyeshades” set in the Vatican, a Sister Act-inspired nun (Bri Javis), and the clever riffing of “Type A”. While well-written, well-delivered, and clearly audience pleasers, they lessen the impact of the dramatic scenes and compelling songs that came before and after. But overall, the strength of this remarkable story and the writers’ commitment to its forthright telling win out.

Dazzling visuals

Glory Ride is filled with creative movement and dazzling visuals. Direction by Michael Bello and the choreography of Denis Michael Jones are superb. Stage movement and dance numbers were strongly conceived for the large 22-member cast. Whether this excellent company is acting, singing, dancing, or cycling (sometimes all at once), the DTC stage never feels crowded. Bello and Jones created a clever, almost magical cycling peloton using lights and fog, and they often put races on the stage’s turntable or have actors hold bicycle parts to create Guido’s rides.

Their work is undergirded by the strength and invention of a superb design team. Tony-winning designer Beowulf Boritt created a playing space centered on an upstage oculus window, with a dramatically broken ceiling that mirrors the fragmentation of Italian society. These scenic elements are a canvas for remarkable projections by Nicholas Hussong that set the play’s ever-changing locales. He beautifully creates the cathedral’s rose window or the Italian countryside; illustrates the routes Gino rode; and includes period footage that amplifies the history.

Costumes by Alejo Vietti evoke the period and allow for the necessary ease of movement. And it’s hard to overstate the impact of Cory Pattack’s dramatic lighting, which evokes the thin atmosphere of the Italian mountains or sun streaming through cathedral windows or the outdoor plazas of Florence. There are atmospheric banks of side lights, although in this intimate theater you can sometimes hear their hum. Daniel Lundberg’s sonic design works well, mitigating the problem of miking actors in the DTC space and amplifying the 10 first-rate offstage musicians, orchestrated by Terence Odonker and led by music director James Woods.

A thrilling take on an epic tale

Glory Ride is a visually thrilling, emotionally engaging show, enhanced by the creators’ excellent program notes. While the production sits comfortably in the DTC playhouse, its storytelling scope and visual strength make it a natural for larger theaters and more American productions. Kudos to Victoria Buchholz and Todd Buchholz for taking on this epic tale and telling it with such panache and commitment. At the smoothly executed preview I saw, everyone in the house agreed.

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