The Teatros del Canal start a new season with two exciting productions

One of Madrid's best loved theatres, the Teatros del Canal will start the new season with two exciting productions; Cayetana su pasión and El Pisito.
Cayetana, su pasión is piece of flamenco-ballet which pays hommage to the very colourful Spanish aristocrat the Duchess of Alba, and features costumes designed by Victorio & Lucchino. The duchess herself is a big fan of flamenco ballet and a lover of all things typcially Spanish. The show runs from 31st August until 18th Setember in the Sala Rojo and tickets start from 14,50€.

If you have a decent level of Spanish, El Pisito is the story of a hard-up couple from the 1950's who due to their lack of money want to get married and have their own apartment, however they are offered one under some very strange circumstances. Although the story takes place in the past, it still has a lot of relevance today for young people struggling to buy a place to live due to the economic times. The show runs from 1st-18th September in the Sala Verde and tickets start from 12€.

The Barber of Seville

There's no better way to spend a summer night than enjoying some open air opera, even more so from the very elegant surroundings of the Sabatini Gardens located next to the Royal Palace. Ópera Cómica, one of Madrid's oldest opera companies will be performing the classic, The Barber of Seville in what should be a very delightful performance. The production runs from 18th-27th August and ticket prices start at 15€. They can be bought at entradas.com or at the venue box office.

Calé

Joaquín Cortés is one of Spain's best loved flamenco performers, and Calé is an exciting musical journey which takes us through his 20 year career as a dancer and portrays his influences, experiences and glories. Cortés has tourned the world with this show, including in the USA, and of course seeing him perfom in Spain, it is going to be a much more special experience. Calé runs at the Teatro Coliseum at Gran Vía 78 (Metro: Plaza de España L3, L10) from 3-14th August beween Weds-Sun and tickets costs from 28,50€.

Chicago the Musical makes a return to Madrid

From the 17th November, the global hit musical Chicago will be back in Madrid, this time at the Nuevo Teatro Alcalá. This year is extra special as the show will be celebrating its 15th anniversary. Tickets are altready on sale and cost from 14,90€ upwards. You can buy tickets here.

The Russian Imperial Ballet make a return to Madrid

One of the best known ballet companies, the Russian Imperial Ballet will be back in Madrid this month to treat us to some of our favourite ballet pieces. From 6th to 10th July, they will perform Sherezade, Chopiniana and Bolero; and from 12th to 31st of July they will perform Swan Lake. They have performed in Madrid many times before and always get excellent reviews. The shows will be running at the Teatro Compac Gran Vía. Tickets from 20€ and are available from entradas.com, El Corte Inglés and Caja Madrid/Ibercaja ATMs.

Magia Potagia!

A great one for the kids! Juan Tamariz is a an Andalucian magician who has performed far and wide including in Tokyo, Los Angeles and throughout Europe. He'll be in Madrid in early June to present Magia Potagia, a spellbinidng new magic show which makes the unreal real. You can catch the show from 2nd-19th June at the Teatro Marquina (Calle Prim, Chueca) Thurs-Sat 8.30pm and Sunday 7.30pm.

Shakespeare's Richard III and The Comedy of Errors in English

 As part of the Festival de Otoño en Primavera, the Teatros del Canal will be running productions of Richard III and The Comedy of Errors by William Shakespeare. Both shows will be in English and performed by British theatre company Propeller. Performance times are as follows:

Richard III: 12/13th May- 8pm and 14th May- 4pm

The Comedy of Errors: 11 May- 8pm, 14th May- 10pm and 15th May- 6pm


Tickets between 12€ (in advance)-22€ at entradas.com or the theatre box office.

Address: Sala Roja, Teatros del Canal (Calle Cea Bermúdez 1, Metro: Canal L2 and L7).

Festival de Otoño en Primavera

The Otoño en Primavera (Autumn in Spring) Festival is an annual season of cultural events which takes place in the spring. Organised by the city hall of Madrid, there are 34 performances happening; ranging from theatre and dance performances, circus acts and concerts. The performers come from a number of different countries, as well as locally and nationally. One highlight promises to be the talk and demonstration by Laurie Anderson one of the most revered contemporary audiovisual artists. She will be at the Matadero on 31st May. Additionally there will a series of workshops and courses in the performing arts for both adults and young people (around 25€-50€ and you need to sign up in advance).

Tickets prices vary depending on the event and there will be a number of free ones. If you buy your tickets in advance before 11th May, you can receive up to 50% off the ticket price.

You can get more details and the full programme here. It's in English too!

La Revoltosa- one of the most loved pieces of zarzuela comes to the Teatros del Canal

No visit to Spain would be complete without a visit to the theatre to see some traditional Spanish zarzuela (operetta). Running from 30th April until 8th May at the Teatros del Canal, is La Revoltosa, the story of a beautiful rebellious young women who causes quite a stir in a typical working class barrio of Madrid during the 19th century. Written by Carlos Fernández Shaw and José López Silva, with music by Ruperto Chapí,  it has come to be one of the best loved zarzuelas since it was first perfromed in Barcelona back in 1897.


You can catch the performance at the Sala Verde at the Teatros del Canal 30/4-8/5. Performances Tues-Sat 7pm and 9pm, Sundays 6pm and 8pm. Ticket prices vary between 15€-25€ and can be bought here.

Teatro Madrid offer an interesting programme of dance

The Teatro de Madrid is offering a very eclectic series of dance productions this spring, consisting of everything from African drumming to burlesque. 

FOLKLORIC BALLET OF MADRID (28 April to 1st May)
Cuatro E
Director: Jorge García Ávila

This production unites elements of traditional dance from different Spanish regions including Castilla, Andalucía and Madrid. The four elements of earth, wind, water an fire all feature strongly as we are taken on a journey through Spain. 

DANZA EN ESENCIA (from 30th April until 28th May)
Fridays and Saturdays: 10.30pm

Danza en Esencia (Dance in Essence) is a series of small and intimate concerts which take place in the cafeteria of the theatre, with the idea of bringing together interesting and daring concepts and showing the true essence of the movements to the audience. The performances on on offer are as follows:

Derechos… o Izquierdos? Varied styles by Aúpa Teatro
Saturday 30th April

Derechos… o Izquierdos

Karacter, African dance and percussion by Dikatt
Friday 6th May
El Peso del Alma, Urban dance by El Peso del Alma

Saturday 7th May
Evil, Evil Girrrls and the Malvados, Burlesque. 

Friday 13th May
Chuvisco, el Bandolero Arisco, theatre dance by Mascarpone Teatro
Friday 20th May
De la Noche a la Mañana, Spanish dance by Mónica Iglesias
Saturday 21st May

Ella en Otros, Contemporary dance by Élida Dorta
Viernes 27 de mayo, 22.30 horas
Fenicia en Esencia, Oriental dance by Fenicia Companny of Oriental Dance

Saturday 28th May

All concerts start at 10.30pm. Ticket prices vary, but most are reasonably priced at around 14€. You can buy online here. The theatre is located on Avenida de la Ilustación (near the shopping centre), close to Avenida de la Ilustración and Barrio del Pilar metro stations.

Free theatre tickets!

Want some free theatre tickets? On Tuesday 5th April,  to mark the arrival of spring, the Último Minuto box office on Plaza del Carmen will give away 100 pairs of theatre tickets between 5-8pm. From 5.30 until 6.15pm, the Harlem Globetrotters basketball team will be making an appearance and showing off their skills there to promote a special event in Madrid. Tickets are available for 77 different shows in Madrid across dozens of venues- you can chose the performance you want to see. In the case of the Globetrotters show, there will be 50 free pairs of tickets for the event held on 20th May. Get there quick before they all go!

Les Miserables in Madrid

We went along to the Teatro de Lope de Vega to see an excellent performance of the musical Les Miserables. The performance on offer is a slightly revised version of the original classic, which has been seen by 56 million people since it was first performed in 1985. Performance times are as follows: Tues-Thurs 8.30pm, Fri and Sat 6pm and 10pm, and Sunday 7pm. The Lope de Vega theatre is at Gran Vía, nearest metro Santo Domingo (L2). Tickets cost between 19,90€ and 99,90€ and you can buy them at the box office, in Caja Madrid ATMs or online at entradas.com.

 We highly recommend catching it if you can!

A season of zarzuela coming to the Teatro Madrid

 

No visit to Spain would be complete without going to see a zarzuela (typical Spanish operetta) performance. The Teatro de Madrid will be hosting a season of zarzuela performances in April performed by the Innova Lyrica company. There are three different shows and run as follows:

LA ROSA DEL AZAFRÁN (31 March-3 April)

BLACK, EL PAYASO(7-10 April) 

LOS GAVILANES(14-17 April)

Tickets cost 14- 22€ and can be bought here. The Teatro de Madrid is located on Avda de la Ilustracion, near metro Herrera Oria (L9).

Noche de los Teatros comes to the metro!

As a warm up to Saturday's Noche de los Teatros (Theatre Night), on Thursday and Friday Madrid's metro users will be able to catch series of mini-theatre pieces taking place in metro carriages and on the station platforms. Transport users themselves will be encouraged to join in with the acts and Sol station will become the 'KM Zero of Theatre'. It will certainly make the commute to work more fun! The Corte Inglés too will be getting involved with the event. They have decorated the front of their Calle Preciados store with pieces of theatre clothing created by famous Spanish designers Agatha Ruiz de la Prada and Jesús del Pozo.

To find out more about Noche de los Teatros, see our post

Noche de los Teatros (Theatre Night)

Each year the Comunidad de Madrid offers a special night of theatre, dance and music with reduced entry price of up to 50%, and this years fifth edition will be taking place on Saturday 26th March. In total there will be 170 performances at 120 venues, with something for everything including comedy, story telling and special events for kids taking place consecutively across seven hours. As there are so many events taking place, we can't list them all here, but there are up on the Noche de los Teatros website (Spanish only). 

Comedy in English MARCH – US LIBERAL COMEDY ELITE: LEE CAMP

The Giggling Guiri is an English language comedy club which has been running comedy events in Madrid and Barcelona since 2005 and brings some of the best loved comedians from the UK, Ireland, US and Australia to Spain. They have a show coming up on Sunday 20th March with US comic Lee Camp. 

The Giggling Guiri (www.comedyinspain.com) is massively excited to present another opportunity to experience real US comedy upfront and live in Spain. Flown directly to Europe by the Glasgow Comedy Festival we managed to catch him en route for a couple of shows from one of the exceptional young talents in comedy in the US. Lee is also a contributor to The Onion newspaper, the Huffington Post, and has performed stand-up at events featuring Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and Al Gore.
“Since my dad died, I've been concerned about who's going to keep the torch alive, who's going to keep it lit. And I saw Lee, and I was completely blown away by the balls he has, and I thought 'Hey, that's like my dad.' Three things about Lee really remind me of my father. One of which is that he's a thinking person's comic.

 MADRID (SUNDAY) Mar 20 – 8.30pm (Box office 8pm) / Teatro Alfil (c/ Pez 10, M: Noviciado)
TICKETS € 17 (Presale) € 20 (Box office) www.comedyinspain.com or
MADRID: J&J Books & Coffee (c/ Espíritu Santo, 47 – M: Noviciado) / The Lock Inn (c/ Santa Teresa, 14 – M: Alonso Martinez)
LANGUAGE English

+ INFO Stephen Garland - +34 610 31 76 56 - mail@comedyinspain.com - www.leecamp.net
Lee Camp has been making audiences gasp with laughter for twelve years now. He’s published two comedy books, has been featured on radio, TV and in short films, is the Head comedy news writer for ComedyExpressTV.com, and he did all that by age twenty-five! By the age of twenty-two he had already been the opening act for A-list headliners including Jimmy Fallon, Darrell Hammond, and Tracy Morgan. He was recently on Showtime's series The Green Room with Paul Provenza and is featured in the new bestselling book iSatiristas! with the likes of George Carlin, Billy Connolly, Conan O’Brien, and Stephen Colbert. Camp was chosen as one of the Best New Faces at the Montreal Comedy Festival; he ran for president on Comedy Central's Fresh Debate '08; and he's done comedic commentary on PBS, E! Network, SpikeTV, MTV, and Good Morning America.

Musical- Bésame Mucho

A musical set in Havana telling a love story about a couple, where the girl wants to go to Madrid to study. Set to plenty of Latino rhythms and with elements of salsa, bachata, and merengue, it's a production brimming with passion. The show is directed by Cuban born Yolena Alonso. Runs 9th March- 3rd April, Sala Roja at the Teatros del Canal. Tickets available from 20€ at Entradas.com.


Here's a taster  of the performance:

Madrid Festival of Sacred Arts

The Madrid Sacred Art Festival, which has been running for over twenty years brings together sacred music, theatre and dance dating from the 14th century up to the present day. During the festival 34 events will be taking place in 23 venues in the Comunidad de Madrid, ranging from theatres to ancient churches. The festival is an international event, with performers coming to Madrid from eleven countries including the USA, France, Germany, Iran and Cuba. This year's programme will include hommage to the composer Liszt and as well as offerings from Greek, Persian and Mandigan cultures. Also the performance of Mozart's Requiem by the San Jerónimo el Real Choir with the Barbieri Chamber Orchestra is tipped to be a highlight.

The festival period is from 28th February-11th April at various locations across the city and Madrid region. Click here for the programme.

Comedy in English- Zoe Lyons live in Madrid

Comedy in Spain (The Giggling Guiri Comedy Club) has been running English language comedy nights in Madrid and Barcelona since 2005 and attracts well known comedians from the UK, Ireland, USA, Canada and Australia. On Sunday 20th February, UK comic Zoe Lyons will be at the Teatro Anfil performing. 

ZOE LYONS: Chortle.co.uk in an ill conceived analysis of its reviews of the Edinburgh Fringe drew the sweeping and ridiculous conclusion that men were
funnier than women. Needless to say it caused an outcry especially at a time when female comedy has never enjoyed so much success. In the Uk a new
generation has emerged and it has never been better, on TV with BBC comedy award winner Miranda Hart, Catherine Tate, Emma Fryer and rocking the live
arena ladies like Sarah Millican, Janey Godley, Shappi Khorshandi and GG favourite, one Zoe Lyons. Zoe is one of the most confident performers you
will see anywhere commanding the stage, a gifted storyteller and wonderful connection with the audience. If you want to experience this new wave of
female comedy, come see one of the main protagonists this weekend. She is hilarious!   
BUY TICKETS NOW!! 

See a clip of Zoe live here 

When: Sunday February 20, 8.30pm (Doors: 8pm) 

Where: Teatro Alfil (c/ Pez 10 - M: Noviciado) 

Tickets: Online, or at J&J Books and Coffee (c/ Espíritu Santo 47 - M: Noviciado - Tel: 91
521 8576) The Lock Inn (c/ Santa Teresa 14 - M: Alonso Martínez - Tel: 91 310 3984). Tickets are 17€ in advance or 20€ at the box office. 

Zarzuela: El Estreno de una Artista/Gloria y Peluca

The Teatro de la Zarzuela are presenting another excellent zarzuela production, this time a double programme of El Estreno de una Artista and Gloria y Peluca. If you don't know what a zarzuela is, it's a typcial Spanish operetta. You can find out more about this tradition on an article we made about zarzuela a few months ago (A Guide to Zarzuela). The first part of the performance takes place in Florence in the year 1850. Two young Spanish singers keen to be opera singers in the court of the Grand Duke, have their attempts impeded by Astucio, fearing they will be rivals to his wife Marietta. However Astucio's plan fails when both he and Marietta fall out of favour with the Grand Duke. In the second part, Gloria y Peluca, we see Astucio and Marietta (now known Marcelo and María) working as costume makers for the Grand Duke's opera company. Upon hearing the great success of the two Spanish singers after a performing a Bellini opera, Marcelo decides he wants to perform his own opera in the court, however this time María refuses to return to performing.

The performace runs until 13th March between Weds-Sun at the Teatro de la Zarzuela. (Calle Jovellanos 4, metro: Sevilla L2). Tickets can be bought at the theatre box office or from  http://www.servicaixa.com