The newly opened Teatre Musical Arenas faces its first Christmas season with the musical show Oliver Twist-Christmas Story. Inspired by Charles Dickens' well-known novel, the production has been created, directed, and choreographed by Coco Comín. "It's the most charming and heartwarming musical I've ever done," she proclaimed at the presentation of the show in the new theater of the old bullring. With 1,340 seats and 2,560 square meters at the top of the Arenas Shopping Center, it has opened this season with Global Exhibitions as one of the largest performing arts venues not only in Barcelona but in Spain.
The show has just landed in the new theater and will offer performances until January 7. It will do so with 11 actors on stage, most of whom are more than young: the protagonists are five boys and one girl between 10 and 15 years old. Youth is not at odds with talent or skill: the actors sing five emblematic songs live and master the art of dance in various disciplines, including tap, ballet, and jazz, without forgetting acrobatics. With previous experience, some of them were part of the cast of the acclaimed Billy Elliot, the musical, at the Teatre Victòria. Comín has detailed that there are only two "new crop," one of whom is Oliver himself, brought to life by 10-year-old Luka Gordillo.
The cast was selected without a casting call: all the actors are teachers or students of Coco Comín's school, as she herself explained. "I promised a long time ago that I wouldn't do any more castings" due to the unpleasant feeling of rejecting 99% of proposals: "There comes a time when you know the artistic scene so well that you only have to choose among trusted people," she remarked. Among the adult actors, musical actor and member of Tricicle's clone company, Clownic, Jaume Ortanobas, stands out, among others.
The new theater will be the first venue for this show, but not the definitive one: the promoters are studying a tour of CataloniaThe production, in Catalan, narrates the story and adventures of the orphan Oliver after his expulsion from the workhouse and his arrival in London, highlighting the shortcomings of 19th-century British society, such as child labor and class differences in Victorian England. From the original "novelón," Comín explained that they have eliminated "everything that was salacious for a child," with the aim of being able to offer the story to a family audience. "The story ends badly, and a good musical has to end well. If not, it's better not to dedicate oneself to making musicals, many other things can be done," according to the choreographer and director. The show, which culminates with a surprise tap dance number, features costumes by Anna Ramon, with many pieces adapted and re-sewn from an Oliver Twist that Coco Comín's company already promoted in 2000.
1,340 seats of "terror"
Both the director and the artistic director of the new theater, Joan Lluís Goas, have confessed their greatest "terror": the 1,340 seats in the venue. "I don't know if we will manage to fill this someday," Comín admitted from the top of the stage of the imposing hall. She emphasized that a successful family show gathers about 300 spectators in each session: "If we get 300 every day, I will be very satisfied." Goas also did not hide the respect that the magnitude of the new hall inspires: "1,340 seats for a family show is quite a challenge, but here we are."
And the 11 actors will seek to conquer the audience from a large stage with a 29-meter opening equipped with LED screens and the latest audiovisual technologies. The performers will do so from above: the wooden dome that houses it is located 27 meters high, making it the highest stage in the city. The theater aims to be a versatile space and aspires to attract 300,000 new spectators this season, after opening under the management of Global Exhibitions after signing a contract with Merlin Properties, owner of the shopping center.
The new theater will be the first venue for this show, but not the definitive one: the promoters are studying a tour of Catalonia. However, not just any scenic space can host the production. Due to the minimum dimensions required, only between 15 and 18 Catalan venues can be candidates, Goas detailed. The artistic director of the project has announced that Teatre Cúpula Arenas will also offer various tributes during the Christmas season. It proposes to welcome the new year with a tribute to Abba, and to dance to the rhythm of the rock of The King precisely on Three Kings' Day, with a tribute to Elvis Presley.
The new theater premiered in September with the musical Havana Nights. The show with acrobatics, music, and dance to Cuban rhythms inaugurated the season of the new space, after the dome of the shopping center hosted large-format shows last year, through the management of Loom Events. Now, under the management of Global Exhibitions, it aims to maintain a stable and permanent program that will include large musical formats. "It's a dream to have this new scenic space", proclaimed Goas, who highlighted that this cultural use has been included in an initially commercial space. "We have to shape this space and, starting with works like Oliver Twist, we are doing it little by little." The theater will do so with an offer at the heights that crowns not only the old bullring, but also Paral·lel avenue, a Barcelona artery where the memory of a theatrical and musical splendor that refuses to be buried and aspires to recover still resonates.