Max Abroad : The Best of Spain

I have always been a huge fan of musicals ever since I went to see the opening cast of Phantom 25 years ago, it was at this show that I got the musical “bug”. It wasn’t long after, that I managed to see Les Miserable and I was then well and truly addicted to this format of entertainment. I have been very fortunate to have to seen a wide variety of musicals in my time and in different languages. “We will Rock You” in Dutch was a bit odd but at least the music was still in English. I can’t imagine Queen in Dutch, though. However I also managed to see Tarzan in The Hague the biggest Disney production worldwide of the show, and "Tarzan" did speak in Dutch and sang in Dutch; “You’ll be in my Heart” by Phil Collins certainly had a different twist to it. But nonetheless they were both fantastic shows and language wasn’t an issue. I took my wife to see les Mis a few years back in London and she doesn’t speak English, by the second half she was in tears, not having understood a single word. That is the beauty of Musicals, the music transcends to the emotions of the viewer in a way Television or Cinema cannot.

Spain has never really been a “Musical” country even though it has musical roots deeply inbred. Musicals never seemed to get off the ground probably because of their cheap production and tour policy of moving around the country. It is never the same when they go on tour. However, this is all starting to change, Musicals aren’t on the come back, they are kicking off for the first time in Spain in a really serious manner. Who would have thought that amidst the crisis and the foreclosure of theatres and art centres that Musicals were going to boom. Well that is exactly what is happening, Madrid is building its own Broadway, La Gran Via, and I am so happy that finally quality productions are coming to Spain mainly thanks to the Dutch giant Stage Entertainment that dominates the Musical world. They have finally decided to go full steam ahead, to such an extent that people are now talking about Musical Tourism to Madrid. Certainly good news for the Capital as a more varied tourism is greatly needed attracting visitors all year round. Almost 700,000 viewers went to see Les Miserable in Barcelona and another 700,000 went to see The Lion King in Madrid this year. This show alone brought in around 250 million euros to Madrid last year, not including the ticket prices and 50% of all the viewers were from outside the Madrid region, a massive help for restaurants, bars, transport etc. The most successful musical to date is Mamma Mia that has drawn in 2 million viewers and will finally end in January.

However The Lion King has pulverised all ticket sale records this year with daily sell-outs. Taking into consideration the current economic crisis and the price of the tickets being around €45 each, that’s not bad at all. Next summer will be the first summer in history that the main shows will not close in August, so people can combine summer sun with a touch of musical entertainment.  My 8-year-old daughter is also a fan of Les Miserable and sings non-stop “castle in a cloud” in her angelic little voice and dances to We Will Rock You every time she hears it. Personally I think its a great escape from the video consoles and the run of the mill cinema that children are consuming on a daily basis, its a different perspective on entertainment for them and to see it all happening live in front of them just mesmerises them. So if you haven’t thought of making a trip to Madrid and watching a musical, I highly recommend it. Many popular musicals are still on show (Les Mis, Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, My Fair lady, The Wizard of Oz, Snow White, Annie, Chicago, Michael Jackson etc.) and new ones are on the way such as Rocky, Ice Age and War Horse.