PABLO R. ROCES
@Pavlinrodriguez
Madrid
Sunday, July 5, 2020 - 01:55
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Simba's roar no longer resonates in the savannah, Billy no longer dreams of being a dancer among the Durham County charcoal, Sam and Molly's kiss with their hands in the mud and Unchained Melody ringing will no longer occur. The pandemic has suspended all those moments in a Madrid Gran Vía to which people begin to return. But where the lights of the musical posters have been replaced by gates on the doors of the theaters . And the producers still do not know when the curtain will rise again.
This is the current reality of a sector that, according to data managed by the Culture Area of the Madrid City Council provided by the producers themselves, billed 110 million euros in 2019 . "And it is not just the billing, it is all the expense generated by the people who come to see a musical in Madrid in leisure, hospitality or hotels," they point out from the City Council. An expense that, at least, will not occur in the coming months.
Among the main companies in the sector, nobody dares to give an exact return date, but they already look towards the Christmas campaign as the best option and take Broadway as an example, which has announced its return at the earliest in January 2021.
" The closest point we see would be the month of November , previously impossible, and that counting on everything going well and not suffering a regrowth that forces us to stop everything," argues Yolanda Pérez Abejón, CEO of Stage Entertainment, owner of the Coliseum and Lope de Vega theaters on Gran Vía.
Two of the great sensations of these exhibitions in the city of Madrid are concentrated in his hands: the Lion King , with almost five million viewers in 10 years, and Anastasia .
«We a year, with our two shows, we bring 800,000 people to Madrid who come to spend the weekend and stay in hotels, go to dinner, buy in stores ... It is not just the losses that we as private company, is what is generated around us ». For this reason, the CEO of Stage Entertainment trusts the return of her musicals to the «return of tourism».
The situation does not differ much in the other great ship of musical production, Som Produce. The version that they provide from the company is that they are "observing with prudence" the evolution of the events that will take place in the coming weeks "to value the agendas well and make decisions that do not confuse the audience".
"Soon we will be able to communicate our definitive plan," they indicate to EL MUNDO officially from its press office. But sources consulted by this newspaper find it "difficult" for activity to resume in September when the season should begin in its five theaters -Rialto, Nuevo Teatro Alcalá, Calderón and Nuevo Apolo- where Billy Elliot , La Crazy Cage and the premiere of Grease was expected .
Open spaces
The third business leg is completed by the developer Let's Go, creator of The Hole or Ghost, who has opted for innovation. "We have decided to adapt The Hole to an open space in Puerta del Ángel with the security measures that are requested for the summer season and thus be able to put something on the bill to reactivate the sector", indicates its director, Iñaki Fernández.
More complicated is the matter of Ghost , at the EDP Gran Vía Theater, which will not return until at least the end of November. " A closed theater and with the investment that a musical requires, it is impossible to put it to work with a reduced capacity ," acknowledges the Basque producer who assures that his company will be "very attentive" to the situation with the pandemic that occurs in the month October.
The capacity is precisely one of the issues that most concern musicals because high investments do not allow an opening with drastic reductions. «It will cost us to recover 100% of clients because people are afraid, but with 75%, although we would be at the limit, we would open . With less it is impossible because it would be open to losses and I want to open because I know that I contribute to reviving tourism ", explains Pérez Abejón from Stage.
This is the business situation of a sector "fundamental" for the cultural and tourist life of the city, as recognized by the Madrid City Council.
But what about the actors? «We are going to suffer a lot because we are going to be almost a year unemployed. First we were at ERTE and there are many people in the sector with temporary contracts who, when they run out, you are left with nothing, "says Cristina Llorente , protagonist of Ghost , who looks with" uncertainty "at the future and a tour that the show had scheduled for the end of this year.
"No work"
In the same situation is Robert Matchez , part of the cast of Billy Elliot, back to his native Canary Islands awaiting news of a recovery yet to be determined in the sector. "We were going to Barcelona now with the musical, but we don't have any new news and we don't know what's going to happen (...) So I have to go home because there is no work in Madrid right now ," he says before take the plane.
What both actors agree on is that this return will not be "immediate". “ At least we need a month of rehearsals before we return and we are already rushing a lot . In my case during the quarantine I have continued to train and prepare the voice, because the actors cannot stop being physically, vocally and mentally, but rehearsals are essential », confirms Cristina Llorente.
"This work is exhausting in body and soul because there is hardly any rest and without these trials it is not possible", complements Robert Matchez.
Despite the complicated situation, these actors try to put "optimism" in the immediate future. "Hopefully we can return at Christmas because the truth is that it doesn't make much sense that you can be sitting with a mask next to another person in the subway and you can't do it in a theater ", says the protagonist of Ghost .
"It is a pity that this pandemic has come now when Madrid had consolidated an offer of four or five high-level musicals , but we hope to keep it around the corner," concludes his colleague, Billy Elliot .
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