Dante and his `Comedy' get the Benigni treatment

Italian actor/writer/director Roberto Benigni has had some cinematic difficulty since his Academy Award-winning Life Is Beautiful came out more than a decade ago.He was incredibly creepy as Pinocchio in a 2002 Italian movie he also directed, and just try and remember anything about his 2005 movie The Tiger and the Snow.In this cinematic lull, Benigni has turned to theater (as all actors worth their salt should). For years he has been doing a solo show tour around Italy and Europe, sometimes about politics, sometimes about his life. About three years ago, he did a show called TuttoDante (Everything About Dante), and in his exploration of the great Italian poet and his Divine Comedy, Benigni found himself in a giant hit.After touring the show around the world, Benigni brings TuttoDante to the United States and makes his American theatrical debut on Tuesday, May 26 at Davies Symphony Hall here in San Francisco.I wrote about Benigni and the show in the Pink section of the San Francisco Chronicle.Read the story here.For information about TuttoDante: 8 p.m. Tuesday, May 26, Davies Symphony Hall, 201 Van Ness Ave., San Francisco. Tickets are $40-$90. Call (415) 392-4400 or visit www.cityboxoffice.com.Here's a sneak peek (but it's in Italian):