Theatrical activity in Barcelona drops considerably in August, but the boost given by the Grec to the performing arts will allow you to enjoy various festival proposals for a few more days. After the scare due to the unusual drop in spectators in April, May and June, the sector conspires to reconnect with the public with a powerful season. September and October will be more crucial than ever.
Among the hooks to get the public off the couch are reruns of works such as ‘El mètode Grönhlom’, the premiere of the musicals ‘Pretty woman’ and ‘Ghost’, the arrival of ‘Sun & Sea’, a montage inspired by an award-winning operatic installation at the Venice Art Biennale, and two adaptations: ‘Assaig sobre la ceguesa’, based on a famous novel by Saramago, and ‘La trena’, by Laeticia Colombani, a story of brave women. If the ‘rentrée’ doesn’t work out there will be cause for concern. And a lot.
Isabel Vidal, president of Focus and of the Associació d’Empreses de Catalunya (Adetca), has her hopes pinned on the next season. “The sector is in a recovery phase. The Grec festival is always a help because it puts the focus on the theater. The premise to attract the public is to have a powerful billboard and we will have that starting in September, without forgetting that there are still theaters open in August”, highlights Vidal.
The last complete season before the pandemic, the collection was 64 million euros and the number of viewers, 2.5 million. Nothing to do with those with 38.6 million euros and 1.4 million viewers in the 2020-21 season, the one before the current one that was affected by numerous covid restrictions. The data for this season will be known in September.
A slipstream of the Grec
There will be included the data of the theaters that this August still offer shows. Let’s focus on them. Jordan Gonzalez, Chief Content Officer at Focusconsiders that programming in August beyond the second fortnight is complicated: “We only open at the beginning of August because we are slipstreaming from the Grec. Normally we keep the shows until the first week of August. If a work works and the artists can continue with the functions we can keep it longer.But the normal thing is that as many people go on vacation the collection falls“. The drop in public in summer is notorious, although this year Marta Buchaca’s comedy ‘Quant temps em que que?’ at the Goya “it’s going fantastic” and will remain on the bill until the 12th.
Traditionally, theaters also take advantage of this month of holidays to make works and maintenance tasks. The Liceu, for example, this August will change the seats. Actors, technicians and other theater staff also need vacations. “Family conciliation is important,” González recalls that he is in Madrid, where the Teatro La Latina, which depends on the Grup Focus and Pentación Espectáculos, is precisely under construction.
González, like most of the sector, has his sights set on the next season. The Grec has livened up the stalls after a few very lazy months. They expect the trend to continue in September. “We have a very attractive season that can be well defended,” he says optimistically. Although he admits that the dire news of inflation does not help, he hopes that after two courses altered by the pandemic 22-23 will finally be a season that reaffirms the creativity and good work of Catalan theater. “I trust the theater that takes place in the city. Barcelona does not receive the amount of internal tourism that Madrid does, but it does receive many visitors from Catalonia, Mallorca and Valencia,” she recalls.
Of the works extended from the Grec festival, the musical ‘Next to normal immersive’ is the one that will last the longest: it will end on Sunday, August 14.
“At the moment the public has filled practically all the performances. The challenge now is to fill the remaining two weeks of August,” says Jordi Sellas, co-producer of the show, a new type of musical that will be exported to other countries. “We have proposals to take it to Mexico, Chile, Argentina, Australia, England and the United States. We have already done the most difficult: create the show. Now we have to achieve a long season in one of the great capitals of musicals.”
Objectives met
With the unbearable heat this year the air conditioning of the theaters is a point in favor when choosing between seeing a play or doing an outdoor activity. The Apolo Theater, which for two years has depended on the Smedia Group in Madrid, It is the theater in Barcelona with a large capacity that keeps the shutter open for longer. The three scheduled shows will end on the 21st. The room must be left free to prepare for ‘Pretty Woman’, a musical inspired by the famous film that will premiere on September 22nd.
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“If there is no offer in August there will never be demand”, recalls Enrique Salaberría, president of the Smedia Group with a dozen theaters in Madrid and one in Barcelona. Although the box office is not the same in August, they are still at the foot of the canyon in Paral·lel. Of all the three that are now on the poster, the one that works best is ‘Cut the red cable’. “The public is sovereign. One thing is the quality of a proposal and another is the interest it arouses among people. We are very happy with how this season has gone,” says Salaberría, who inaugurated the new stage of the Theater in March 2021 Apollo. “Our goals in Barcelona are being met. ‘Fama’ has gone very well and the musical ‘Pretty Woman’, which has never been seen in Spain, is going like a rocket in sales without having done publicity yet”. He is optimistic for the next season. “Regardless of how the economy works, society needs live shows, whether it’s theater or football. Spaces where people come together and let off steam will always be necessary.”
The Gaudi Theater Barcelona (TGB) will close the season with a accumulated losses of 59,000 euros. “We sell tickets but we receive absurd help. The 29,000 euros that the Generalitat gives us are not enough,” complains Ever Blanchet. As always keep the activity. This month he offers four shows. “August has always been a good one for us,” he admits. He hopes to fill the theater with a diverse lineup. Looking ahead to the next season, he only wishes that the global collection in Barcelona improves.