Free Musical at San Galgano Abbey: “Ma Chérie” Brings 1920s New York to Tuscany on August 27

Once a year, San Galgano Abbey stops being a ruin and becomes a theatre. In 2026 that night falls on Thursday, August 27, at 9:15 PM, when the roofless Gothic church near Chiusdino, in the province of Siena, hosts a brand new musical comedy called “Ma Chérie”. Admission is free.

Seats are assigned, though, so this is not a show you can simply walk into. Book ahead and you get one of the most unusual theatre tickets in Tuscany: a 13th-century nave, no roof, and nothing between the audience and the stars.

An abbey with walls, arches and no roof

San Galgano was built by Cistercian monks between 1218 and 1288, along the medieval road that linked Siena to the coast.

Then came the decline. Plague and centuries of abandonment emptied the place, and by the 18th century the roof had collapsed for good.

What survived is the reason people drive out here today: bare stone walls, pointed arches, empty Gothic windows and a grass floor, all open to the sky. Italians call it a tempio a cielo aperto, an open-air temple.

Read also: San Galgano and the Sword in the Stone: Discover Tuscany’s Legendary Abbey

“Ma Chérie”: an inheritance, two families and 1920s New York

The plot moves the audience a long way from medieval Tuscany: New York in the 1920s.

Two Italian immigrant families have made a fortune and then lost their footing in a harsh economic crisis. Broke and desperate, the relatives cook up a diabolical plan to get their hands on the considerable inheritance of an elderly aunt, Gioia, whom everyone sweet-talks with the nickname “Ma Chérie”.

Expect twists, unexpected revelations and an ending designed to surprise, with a few things to think about on the drive home. It is a one-act comedy written and directed by Clara Cosci.

Photos: press office.

The 18th original show of a Siena singing academy

“Ma Chérie” is the 18th original production staged by the Accademia di Canto Moderno, a non-profit cultural association founded in Siena in 2006 to promote singing and the performing arts.

More than thirty singers, actors and dancers share the stage, and the soundtrack leans on some of the best-loved Italian swing numbers from the 1930s to the 1950s.

The show happens thanks to a partnership between the academy, the Comune di Chiusdino and the Fondazione San Galgano, which open the abbey for one summer night every year. In 2025 the title was “Far far west… Calamity Jane!”.

What to know before you go

• Show: “Ma Chérie”, a one-act musical comedy by Clara Cosci
• Date: Thursday, August 27, 2026
• Time: 9:15 PM
• Where: San Galgano Abbey, Chiusdino (Siena), Tuscany
• Admission: free, with assigned seats
• Info and reservations: www.accademiadicantomoderno.it | Tel. +39 388 6519272

Two practical notes. The performance is in Italian: if you do not speak the language, the swing numbers, the costumes and the slapstick still carry a good part of the evening, but the puns will go over your head.

And bring a jacket. A roofless abbey in the Sienese hills cools down quickly once the sun is gone, even in late August.

Turn it into a day in the Sienese hills

The abbey sits in open countryside, with almost no public transport nearby, so nearly everyone arrives by car. There is a free parking area a short walk from the site.

That also makes it easy to build a full day around the show.

• See the abbey in daylight. In August the complex is open from 9:00 AM to 8:00 PM, and from September until 7:00 PM. The all-inclusive ticket (abbey and museums) is €9.00 full price and €7.00 reduced, for visitors over 65, children aged 6 to 18 and groups of more than 20. Children under 6 go free, and family tickets cost €18.00 or €20.00 depending on the number of children.
• Walk up to the Montesiepi Chapel. Built in 1185 to protect the relic, the round chapel on the hill above the abbey holds the sword in the stone that gave the legend of Saint Galgano its name. It is a short uphill walk from the abbey.
• Sleep in Siena. The city is about 30 km away, a 45-minute drive. Here are our handpicked hotels in Siena.
• Or come from Florence. It is roughly 90 km, about an hour and a half by car.

Read also: Renting a Car in Florence, the Complete Guide, and How to Call a Taxi in Siena if you would rather not drive at night.

Travelling around Tuscany this summer? Stay online from the moment you land with a Holafly eSIM and use the promo code TIPS to save on your plan. Full guide here.

Opening hours and ticket prices for the abbey were checked on the Fondazione San Galgano website on August 20, 2026.

Tuscany has no shortage of summer festivals in beautiful places. Very few of them are free, and even fewer put a live orchestra of voices inside an eight-hundred-year-old church with the stars for a ceiling.