Center devoted to director Zeffirelli takes shape in Italy

A center dedicated to Italian director Franco Zeffirelli is taking shape in Florence.

The Franco Zeffirelli International Center for the Performing Arts hosted a preview Tuesday of its exhibits, housed in a former Florence courthouse near Palazzo Vecchio.

Some 300 original sketches by the director and more than a dozen costumes used in his operas are displayed. The Inferno Room features a multimedia recreation of Zeffirelli sketches that were inspired by Dante's "Divine Comedy."

Music from some of the 94-year-old director's movies reverberated in the corridors.
AP
26 July