Nine is the Broadway musical based on Federico Fellini’s film 8½ and features the character Guido Contini.
Guido is an Italian film director experiencing a creative and personal crisis as he struggles to make his next movie. The musical turns his memories, fantasies, and relationships into a theatrical meditation on artistic identity and romantic entanglement.
Maury Yeston wrote the music, lyrics, and book. Nine opened on Broadway in 1982, where it won five Tony Awards, including Best Musical and Best Original Score. Raul Juliá originated the role of Guido in the Broadway production.
The title refers to 8½, the number Fellini used for his films based on a conventional counting of his previous full-length works and collaborations. The musical’s title is therefore an adaptation of the film’s title, not a reference to Guido’s age or the number of characters.