Stephen Nicolazzo felt like throwing away his culture as a kid but is now using it to bring an Aussie classic to the national stage.
Born of Melina Marchetta's iconic 1992 book and award-winning film starring Pia Miranda, Looking for Alibrandi the stage show has embarked on a first national tour.
The story follows feisty protagonist Josie Alibrandi as she navigates her final year at a prestigious Catholic girls' school in Sydney.
Along the way she finds her father, falls in love and grapples with her identity as a third-generation Italian growing up in Australia.
It's an experience Nicolazzo shared as the grandson of Italian migrants.
In primary school, the now 38-year-old was embarrassed to pronounce Italian words his classmates struggled with.
"You want to throw away your culture and your ethnicity when you're younger because of all of the pressures of being discriminated against," he told AAP.
"That's a really strange feeling because you lock away a part of yourself as a result of the pressures of expectation."
The lived experience of young Australians from Italian cultures has improved over the past 30 years.
"But there are many other migrants who have come to this country since the book was written," Nicolazzo said.
"They're experiencing the same discrimination and tensions that Josie faced."
The production highlights important issues of acceptance and tolerance, and is relatable to a wide audience.
Nicolazzo points to the story's universal recognition of concepts like having to deal with over-bearing family members or being spoken to in a certain way.
"The people that watch it are sobbing and laughing because there's a familiarity to it that goes beyond nostalgia," he said.
The show first graced Sydney and Melbourne stages in 2022 and has since undergone script changes to enrich one of Jose's love interests, John Barton.
"The audience is getting the best version of the show, which is five years in the making," Nicolazzo said.
Three new cast members have also joined the fold, including 23-year-old graduate Riley Warner, who plays Josie's knockabout boyfriend Jacob Cootes.
The rising star is debuting in his first stage show, having met Nicolazzo as a student.
"There's something about him that feels like a national audience needs to see him right away," Nicolazzo said.
The show next appears in Sydney on June 11 before heading across NSW, Victoria and South Australia.
Nicolazzo hopes audience members take one key message from his production.
"It's about finding freedom from the shackles of a culture that doesn't want you to be a part of It," he said.
"That's a hard thing to do but we can only do it by making art and talking to people."
