Jennifer Nettles brings 'Poison Queen' to Palermo stages

According to the New York Times, Jennifer Nettles, the lead singer of the country duo Sugarland, has written and is performing in a production called 'Giulia: The Poison Queen of Palermo.' The work, described as a pop-operetta, draws on the historical figure of Giulia Tofana, a Palermo-based woman associated with poisoning in seventeenth-century Sicily. The production represents a turn toward operatic storytelling from an artist rooted in American popular music.

The work sits within a broader international interest in Italian historical subjects as material for stage adaptation. The choice of a Sicilian figure and setting reflects how foreign artists and producers have increasingly mined Italian regional history—particularly Sicily's complex past—as source material for contemporary theatrical work. This mirrors patterns in recent years where Italian cultural narratives, from historical crime to Renaissance intrigue, have attracted producers and performers from outside Italy seeking to reach international audiences.