Mario Merola

Mario Merola (born 1934, Naples, Italy) is a Neapolitan singer and actor, most prominently known for having rejunevated the traditional popular Neapolitan melodrama known as the sceneggiata. From a poor family, Merola held a number of day jobs until one of his songs, Malu Figliu, was used successfully in a sceneggiata, promoting him into the limelight. Merola was at the height of his popularity in the 1970s and 1980s. He has recorded approximately 40 CDs of sceneggiata music and has extensive credits in filmed versions of this Neapolitan form, newer ones as well as "classical" works from earlier in the 20th century. He has toured abroad with a Neapolitan company to bring the sceneggiata to emigrant Italian communities elsewhere.