Hi, everyone! I’m an avid theatregoer who lives in Madrid and after lurking for a lot of time, I’ve finally decided to post something here. Hope I won’t break any rules. Let’s dig in!
I’ve decided to create this thread now, because, currently, there are lots of interesting productions of musicals here in Madrid. We have Grease, Kinky Boots, Antonio Banderas’s production of A Chorus Line, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, The Full Monty, Tina, Ghost, La llamada and The Lion King, which, by the way, turns 10 this year. And next month we’ll also have En tierra extraña, a musical about Federico García Lorca.
There are also some excellent productions of straight plays, especially at the theatres that belong to the Centro Dramático Nacional and Compañía Nacional de Teatro Clásico, but since the thread is called “Musicals in Madrid”, I won’t bore anyone with plays without songs and dancing.
I’ve already seen A Chorus Line, Kinky Boots, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum and Grease.
And, a-wop-baba-lu-mop and wop-bam-boom, what an amazing production of Grease is playing at the Nuevo Teatro Alcalá!
David Serrano, the director, has done with Grease what Emma Rice did with A Midsummer Night’s Dream in 2016. He’s taken a clean cloth, dusted this 50-year-old musical and breathed new life into it.
All the characters except Vince Fontaine are played by teenagers. And it’s incredible how talented these kids are! All of them are great and full of energy. You should see them during the musical numbers. Their energy and enthusiasm are contagious. I’m sure that the rousing Act One finale will give anyone the rush of a lifetime.
Another thing I love about this production is that David Serrano has included lots of obscene language and gestures. This Grease is much closer to the original version than to the sanitized one that has become popular. Finally, the characters speak and behave more or less the way real teenagers speak and behave.
But, I reckon, the most important reason why this production of Grease is a must-see is Quique González.
What this 18-year-old kid has done with Danny Zuko is something unbelievable! He’s achieved what all actors dream about accomplishing when they have to play a role that’s already been played by lots of famous actors. He’s reinvented the leader of the Burger Palace Boys/T-Birds and breathed new life into him. Or maybe he hasn’t.
What sets his Danny apart from all other Dannies is the fact that his Danny isn’t a caricature of a strong and confident teenager; his Danny is a real teenage boy who’s ‘[w]ell-built, nice-looking, with an air of cool, easygoing charm. Strong and confident.’ The quote is the description of Danny Zuko in the original libretto. You could really see this Danny at any high school, fast food joint or place where today’s teenagers go to binge-drink and pash/make out. Besides, the lad is an accomplished actor, singer and dancer as well, so when he is on stage, you can’t take your eyes off him. Honestly, this kid is giving a performance that is so memorable and outstanding that I wouldn’t be surprised if people talked about it in the future - as they talk about Olivier’s Hamlet or Merman’s Rose. It’s simply amazing! One of those performances that must be seen!
In fact, even though he’s not Jamie, everybody’s already talking about him – at least here, in Madrid. He’s being hailed as a sensation:
And in case someone’s interested, this Saturday he’s taking over the BroadwayWorld Spain account on Instagram for 24 hours to show us everything about this production of Grease.
Oh my! Look at me … I sound like a teenage fanboy. I’m so ashamed! I’m so ashamed! I’m blushing in embarrassment!
Seriously though, what is a terrible shame is the fact that in Spain the shows are hardly ever filmed, because this is one of those productions that should be preserved for posterity. If you have a chance to see it, don’t miss it! I’ve already seen it twice since it opened and have tickets to watch it next week again. And I wouldn’t be surprised if I watch it once or twice more.
The only thing I don’t like about this Grease is the fact that they are using the songs that were written for the film version. I mean, c’mon, a straight lad like Danny Zuko would never sing something so syrupy and cloying as “Sandy”. “Alone at a Drive-In Movie” is funnier and suits the character far better. And I must be one of few people who prefer “All Choked Up” to “You’re the One That I Want”. But I understand why they did it. If they used the less popular musical numbers, only few of us would pay to watch it and if a show wants to survive it needs to put bums on seats.
By the way, a piece of advice: Don’t watch it from Anfiteatro 2, i.e. the gods. You’ll spend three hours squirming in your seat and you won’t see anything but the heads of those in front of you. It’s better to splash out and really enjoy watching this gem of a show from the stalls.
The production of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum or Golfus de Roma, as it’s called here, is also fantastic. When I go to the theatre I want to see originality, creativity and freshness and this production has all these ingredients.
They’ve set the action in a circus and though it may sound ridiculous on paper, it works very well at the theatre. They’ve also fixed some things that may be offensive to modern audiences. For instance, Lycus now buys and sells the flesh of beautiful men as well. So, there’s eye candy for everyone.
Pseudolus is played by Carlos Latre, a famous Spanish stand-up comedian and impersonator, and even though this is his first musical, he sings in tune, acts well and, above all, is hilarious. And, as far as I’m concerned, we have the hottest Miles Gloriosus: Iñigo Etayo. Some of you may have seen him as Dimitri in Anastasia. Just to see him strut up and down the aisle dressed up as a Roman soldier and swing his phallic sword is worth the price of admission. A piece of advice: If you like men, try to sit in the fifth/sixth row of the stalls next to the central aisle. You’ll enjoy the show even if you have absolutely no interest in it .
By the way, the show is playing at the Teatro La Latina.
Although it may not be as lavish as the productions seen in the West End and on Broadway, I’ve also liked Kinky Boots that’s playing at Espacio Ibercaja Delicias.
Tiago Barbosa as Lola, Daniel Diges as Charlie and, above all, Angy Fernández as Lauren are great. What I liked a lot is the fact that Tiago Barbosa’s Lola has a strong Brazilian accent. To my mind, it adds a new layer to Lola; not only is she an outsider because she is gay/bi/non-binary and a drag queen, but also because she’s a foreigner. You can feel latent xenophobia while watching the show.
The problem with this production is the venue at which it’s playing. It’s a horrible place. It consists of three ugly and spooky big tops and a line of portable toilets, such as those you can see at construction sites and music festivals, which reek of urine during the intermission. Apart from that, the access to the venue is very difficult – especially for people with disabilities. Don’t trust any maps, because they make things even more confusing and difficult. If it hadn’t been for this video, I’d have gone crazy looking for the place:
Finally, Antonio Banderas’s production of A Chorus Line, which is playing at the Teatro Calderón, is a carbon copy of the original Broadway production and the subsequent revivals. The performers are very professional, but, in my opinion, the show looks stale and tired as Madam Rose would say.
And they sing “One” in English, but I honestly don’t know why since the rest of the show is performed in Spanish. Had they turned these American characters into Spanish characters who are auditioning for a show that will be performed in English on Broadway, singing “One” in English would make sense. But they haven’t done that. You spend almost two hours listening to a group of characters, whose mother tongue is supposed to be American English, speaking Spanish, you get used to that and suspend disbelief and then, suddenly, they start singing in English with a Spanish accent.
By the way, Mr Banderas doesn't play Zach in Madrid. He did it in Málaga. In Madrid, Zach is played by Manuel Bandera.
I mean, the production isn’t bad. It’s well done. I don’t regret seeing it. But it isn’t interesting and there are some really weird translations such as 'Yo quiero ser un movie star'. It’s the same old A Chorus Line you can see in countless videos on YouTube.
Anyway, we’ll see whether Banderas will do something more interesting with his production of Company, which is opening next month at the Teatro Soho CaixaBank in Málaga. It’ll definitely be interesting to see a 60-year-old Bobby getting advice from a 50-year-old Joanne.
If you’ve seen any of these productions, I’d really like to know what you think about them. And if you have any questions about musicals (and straight plays) that can be seen in Madrid, don't hesitate to post them here. Little me (and I'm sure that the other users who live in Madrid/Spain as well) will try to answer them.
probably a stupid question but are all the shows you mentioned in Spanish? I know, why wouldn’t they be in Spanish but I ask because Funny Girl in Paris was in English with French surtitles. Also is there a good website for theatre listings in Madrid?
probably a stupid question but are all the shows you mentioned in Spanish? I know, why wouldn’t they be in Spanish but I ask because Funny Girl in Paris was in English with French surtitles. Also is there a good website for theatre listings in Madrid?
Yes, any websites would be great! I think we take advantage in the UK how many websites there are for theatre tickets that put everything in one place. It's the first thing I Google whenever I go on holiday anywhere, and it's always quite hard to find answers about what's on and the best (or cheapest!!!) place to get tickets. Maybe a master thread could be a good thing for the international section?!
I suppose that when the tickets for the best seats in the house cost 150 euros, Antonio Banderas will play Bobby; and when they cost 120 euros, Bobby will be played by an understudy.
probably a stupid question but are all the shows you mentioned in Spanish? I know, why wouldn’t they be in Spanish but I ask because Funny Girl in Paris was in English with French surtitles. Also is there a good website for theatre listings in Madrid?
Dear BurlyBeaR, a wise person told me once that questions can never be stupid. Only answers can be stupid.
All the shows that I have mentioned are performed in Spanish. In fact, when the characters have to say something in English, they usually make a joke about it. For instance, the kids in Grease make fun of Kenickie when he tells them that the car is called "Greased Lightnin'". They say things such as: ¿Litnin, litnin, (you should pronounce this as it's written ) y eso qué significa? (i.e. Litnin, litnin, what the heck does that mean?).
In Kinky Boots they sometimes say "Hello!" and "I love you" and, obviously, "Yeah!".
The only song that is sung completely in English is "One" in A Chorus Line. And as I said in my post about that show, there are instances of Spanglish in some songs which sound weird.
I'll try to make a list of useful websites in the next post.
The problem with these websites is that they only show and sell tickets for the shows that are performed at private theatres.
To see what shows are playing at the theatres that belong to the institutions that depend on the Spanish government, i.e. Centro Dramático Nacional, Compañía Nacional de Teatro Clásico, Teatro de la Zarzuela, Compañía Nacional de Danza and Auditorio Nacional de Música, you have to use entradasinaem.es:
These theatres are simply amazing. Since they receive the money from the government, they don't care about whether their productions are hits or flops; they care about quality. Thus, all their productions are top-notch and they usually employ the best Spanish actors, directors, etc. Centro Dramático Nacional has two theatres (María Guerrero and Valle-Inclán) where you can see plays by contemporary Spanish and international playwrights and playwrights from the 20th century - from time to time, they also produce plays by Shakespeare; Compañía Nacional de Teatro Clásico has its headquarters at the Teatro de la Comedia where you can see plays by Lope de Vega, Calderón de la Barca, Shakespeare, Molière and so on; at the Teatro de la Zarzuela you can watch 'zarzuelas', i.e. Spanish operas/operettas, and "revistas", i.e. revues; Compañía Nacional de Danza has its headquarters at the Teatro de la Zarzuela and produces classical and modern ballets; and at the Auditorio Nacional de Música you can watch concerts.
If you want to see a show at the theatres that depend on the Comunidad de Madrid, you have to use their official websites:
Post by justanothergeek on Nov 2, 2021 19:19:04 GMT
Great post, Srdan! In adition to all those titles you have mentioned, in future seasons it´s been confirmed or rumored that here in Madrid we are going to have Matilda (already in casting process), Charlie and the Chocolate factory, and The Book of Mormon.
And there are some original musicals in preparation too, including one based in "The neverending story".
I had no idea that there are plans to bring The Book of Mormon to Madrid .
By the way, I've just found out that in June we'll have the world premiere of El orgullo de quererte, a gay zarzuela, in Teatros del Canal.
Romance madrileño en tres actos. Verano de un presente perfecto. El joven Tadeo llega a Madrid con su maleta cargada de ilusión y muchas ganas de juerga, para vivir su primer Orgullo Gay.
Inmediatamente es acogido por las tres mujeres que le van a acompañar en la que será la gran aventura de su vida. Abrirá sus ojos a la noche madrileña y por supuesto al amor de la mano de Alonso, hombre arrollador, compendio de mundanidad y carisma.
Pero también se enfrentará a las miserias humanas, los celos, la mentira, el miedo… la vergüenza. El tercero en discordia, PJ, absoluta encarnación de las más bajas pasiones, mantiene una moribunda e insana relación con Alonso y es capaz de cualquier fechoría para retenerlo a su lado. Todo se enreda y desenreda entre pasodobles, boleros, fox-trot, chotis y las arrebatadas melodías de esta zarzuela en tres actos.
A modern Madrilenian romance in three acts. A perfect summer. The young Tadeo comes to Madrid with his suitcase full of dreams and raring to party, to enjoy his first gay pride in the city.
He is immediately taken in by three women and together they'll live the greatest adventure of Tadeo's life. He'll discover the Madrilenian nightlife and, of course, he'll discover love thanks to Alonso, a passionate, worldly and charismatic studmuffin.
But he'll also face human misery, jealousies, lies, fear ... shame. The villain, PJ, a living embodiment of the worst human passions, has a dying and toxic relationship with Alonso and is ready to do anything to keep his man. All this happens to the rhythm of pasodobles, boleros, fox-trot, chotis and stirring music of this zarzuela in three acts.
The show is written by Javier Carmena (music) and Felipe Nieto (libretto) and it will be playing in Sala Roja from 30 June to 10 July.
I'm really looking forward to this!
If someone is interested in zarzuelas, Teatro de la Zarzuela has lots of great videos of their recent productions on their YouTube channel:
I especially love the productions of their Proyecto ZARZA, which produces modern versions of classical zarzuelas with young actors. These productions tend to be really amazing:
Great post, Srdan! In adition to all those titles you have mentioned, in future seasons it´s been confirmed or rumored that here in Madrid we are going to have Matilda (already in casting process), Charlie and the Chocolate factory, and The Book of Mormon.
And there are some original musicals in preparation too, including one based in "The neverending story".
The future seems very exciting
And don´t forget the Stage Entertainment nonreplica Wicked, due next year at the Teatro Coliseum. The future indeed seems very exciting. Nice to see you here Srdan!
Great post, Srdan! In adition to all those titles you have mentioned, in future seasons it´s been confirmed or rumored that here in Madrid we are going to have Matilda (already in casting process), Charlie and the Chocolate factory, and The Book of Mormon.
And there are some original musicals in preparation too, including one based in "The neverending story".
The future seems very exciting
And don´t forget the Stage Entertainment nonreplica Wicked, due next year at the Teatro Coliseum. The future indeed seems very exciting. Nice to see you here Srdan!
Is that still happening? A casting call went out a year or so ago (it was never confirmed as Wicked, but the casting requirements were clear), but I heard it ran into trouble and then all went quiet.
I only ask because The Little Mermaid, Mary Poppins, and Phantom were also hinted at by Stage Entertainment five or six years ago, but never materialised. And of course Les Mis was all booked in to return to Madrid in 2015, but was pulled at the last minute.
And don´t forget the Stage Entertainment nonreplica Wicked, due next year at the Teatro Coliseum. The future indeed seems very exciting. Nice to see you here Srdan!
Is that still happening? A casting call went out a year or so ago (it was never confirmed as Wicked, but the casting requirements were clear), but I heard it ran into trouble and then all went quiet.
I only ask because The Little Mermaid, Mary Poppins, and Phantom were also hinted at by Stage Entertainment five or six years ago, but never materialised. And of course Les Mis was all booked in to return to Madrid in 2015, but was pulled at the last minute.
Wicked is still happening. Yolanda Pérez, CEO of Stage Entertainment Spain said it herself in an interview in Summer 2021. They simply didn´t want to create and premiere a new staging in Spain. She did say Tina was meant to stay two seasons, but it most likely won´t. Les Mis isn´t scrapped either, but it´s not their top priority atm. The set is apparently still in Spain, as they haven´t produced in another country yet. Phantom and Poppins were just rumors. And no venue was found for TLM in Madrid and the tour was too big (the plan was to premiere in Barcelona, tour and then play a season in Madrid).
Last Edit: Nov 3, 2021 20:16:26 GMT by SuttonPeron
Is that still happening? A casting call went out a year or so ago (it was never confirmed as Wicked, but the casting requirements were clear), but I heard it ran into trouble and then all went quiet.
I only ask because The Little Mermaid, Mary Poppins, and Phantom were also hinted at by Stage Entertainment five or six years ago, but never materialised. And of course Les Mis was all booked in to return to Madrid in 2015, but was pulled at the last minute.
Wicked is still happening. Yolanda Pérez, CEO of Stage Entertainment Spain said it herself in an interview in Summer 2021. They simply didn´t want to create and premiere a new staging in Spain. She did say Tina was meant to stay two seasons, but it most likely won´t. Les Mis isn´t scrapped either, but it´s not their top priority atm. The set is apparently still in Spain, as they haven´t produced in another country yet. Phantom and Poppins were just rumors. And no venue was found for TLM in Madrid and the tour was too big (the plan was to premiere in Barcelona, tour and then play a season in Madrid).
That's good to hear about Wicked then.
Regarding Mary Poppins and Phantom, Julia Gómez Cora, former CEO of Stage, had said a while back that Cameron Mackintosh was keen to open them in Madrid and she was in talks with him. But I'm guessing those talks never progressed.
I'm not convinced Les Mis will be staged in Spain again any time soon. As you said, it's not a priority as there seems to be a lot of newer stuff coming through. As for the set, they used the 2010 UK tour set for Madrid/Barcelona/national tour, and given how many productions have been staged worldwide since the Spanish tour closed at the beginning of 2015, I'd be surprised if that set was still sitting in storage gathering dust.
Wicked is still happening. Yolanda Pérez, CEO of Stage Entertainment Spain said it herself in an interview in Summer 2021. They simply didn´t want to create and premiere a new staging in Spain. She did say Tina was meant to stay two seasons, but it most likely won´t. Les Mis isn´t scrapped either, but it´s not their top priority atm. The set is apparently still in Spain, as they haven´t produced in another country yet. Phantom and Poppins were just rumors. And no venue was found for TLM in Madrid and the tour was too big (the plan was to premiere in Barcelona, tour and then play a season in Madrid).
That's good to hear about Wicked then.
Regarding Mary Poppins and Phantom, Julia Gómez Cora, former CEO of Stage, had said a while back that Cameron Mackintosh was keen to open them in Madrid and she was in talks with him. But I'm guessing those talks never progressed.
I'm not convinced Les Mis will be staged in Spain again any time soon. As you said, it's not a priority as there seems to be a lot of newer stuff coming through. As for the set, they used the 2010 UK tour set for Madrid/Barcelona/national tour, and given how many productions have been staged worldwide since the Spanish tour closed at the beginning of 2015, I'd be surprised if that set was still sitting in storage gathering dust.
Les Mis is one of their plans for the future. Several sources told me it was recently discussed in a meeting. It´s a guaranteed success for Stage, although more expensive (larger band, larger cast) than the in-house productions they´ve been playing the last few years.
Last night I went to the Teatro Rialto to watch the new Spanish production of The Full Monty and I loved every second of it! Honestly, I had the time of my life!
The show is hilarious, everyone in the cast is excellent and the whole production (sets, costumes, etc.) is great.
Another thing that I loved about this production is that you can see the stagehands move the props and fix the sets when there is a change of scene. To my mind, seeing those people (who are usually underappreciated and hardly ever seen by theatregoers) work helps this show about working-class people struggling to find employment and make ends meet immensely. And the same can be said about the “drab” (but very effective) sets. Yes, the show is hilarious, but underneath all the jokes and funny situations is the story of the difficulties and unpleasant experiences the working class have to face on a daily basis. And everyone knows that the run-down working-class neighbourhoods only become colourful when young gay boys sing show tunes on the way to school:
By the way, the story is no longer set in Sheffield or Buffalo, but in a small Spanish town; and the names of the characters have been changed.
It’s a shame that there were heaps of empty seats. But those of us who were there cheered and clapped and laughed so heartily that it seemed that the house was packed. At the curtain call we gave the actors a well-deserved standing ovation and they gave us a big round of applause from the stage. It was a truly an unforgettable and magical night at the theatre. I highly recommend it to all of you!
By the way, Gina/Jeanette, played by Marta Malone, is the spitting image of Eileen Brennan.
This is the ranking of musicals I have seen in Madrid so far: Grease (excellent), The Full Monty (excellent), A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (very good), Kinky Boots (very good) and A Chorus Line (good).
Even though Antonio Banderas' Company opens in Málaga (and not in Madrid) next Wednesday, I've decided to post the trailer here since there are members on this message board who seem to be interested in this production:
Maybe we could retitle this thread and call it 'Musicals in Spain'.
Saw Company tonight in Malaga...I can't speak a word of Spanish, but I do love Company...and totally loved it, Antonio played the role almost subdued, but the whole cast were excellent and the walls of the theatre were cleverly used as the set
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) y eso qué significa? (i.e. Litnin, litnin, what the heck does that mean?).
