Daniel Anglès: “Being a spectator is what satisfies me the most”

Daniel Anglès stops to look back at three decades of profession in the musical theater in our house with the concert 30 years away from Broadway. He will do it in Barcelona (December 10) and Manresa (December 13). With a repertoire carefully chosen for the occasion, Anglès will relive the successes, share confessions and the impossible dreams that have marked his career.

Daniel English

Teatre Barcelona: What will we find in this concert?

Daniel English: There will be songs that I haven’t sung in a while and others that I’ve never done but that fascinate me. I take back the title of a concert I already did, Far from Broadway, because I’ve always had this dream and, paradoxically, having it far away has been a constant driving force for me. Broadway is a mirror and when I go there, I sit in an armchair and I am 100% spectator. Of everything I’ve done in musical theatre, being a spectator is what satisfies me the most.

from Fun Mannow it’s been almost six years since you went on stage. Will it be difficult for you?

Granted, I haven’t been doing theater regularly for years, although I’ve always been there from the back. Going on stage makes me feel a pressure and responsibility that has increased over the years, but at the same time it reconnects me with an essential part of myself. When I do, I feel happy, and there’s also a certain freedom that comes with reconnecting with the audience.

In the show there will be references to Hedwig and the Angry Inchthe musical you starred in at La Paloma in 2004?

Hedwig it was a work that marked a before and an after in my career. Playing Hedwig made me feel free like never before on stage. It actually made me break a lot of taboos. For me, this character is like an alter ego that completely frees me, so I think that at some point in the concert it will be essential that he appears there.

From January we will see you in When I met herin Maldà, how did the idea of ​​interpreting this version of Buyer & Cellar?

Thanks to a British production company friend of mine we talked to about Barbra Streisand and of this particular monologue, which I did not yet know. When I read it, I loved it and thought that, one day, I would like to make it. Now that moment has arrived, and the Maldà is perfect to bring it to the stage.

What does acting in a non-musical text work mean to you?

It has a different magic, because in this play I don’t sing. Rather, I connect with the audience from a purer interpretive place, without the protection of the singing voice. It’s a challenge but I’m having a great time in this format, and it’s interesting that so many people believe that the events are happening to my character for real. The text has this point of self-fiction that plays with reality.

There is a recurring theme in this work: the world of Broadway. Is it another way to pay tribute to this universe that you admire so much?

totally It seems silly, though Buyer & Cellar about show business and the people we admire. About what happens when you meet someone you admire, if the myths are dismantled… Talk about things that seduce me.

In addition, you continue your work as artistic director of the Teatre Condal. Since you got involved, where is this project at?

The initial project was to turn the Condal into a theater dedicated exclusively to musicals, and this remains a central axis. Since the beginning, we have premiered more than fifteen musicals by contemporary Catalan authors. Therefore, it is a clear commitment to give voice to new talents and original creations, and I am happy to be part of this push to grow musical theater in Catalan.

How do you currently see the newly created musical theater in Barcelona?

There is one thing that I like and I have seen it with A shy light or with Artemis: we begin to know how to explain that musicals can be many different things. Frivolous musicals with a lot of “glitter-glitter” are wonderful, but so are all the others. And among the creators I notice a certain openness, for example, The Brutal already brutal has been doing musicals with titles like The importance of being Frank. Okay, we can say it’s theater with songs, but that’s exactly what it’s also a type of musical that connects with many different audiences.

Focus will bet on you, I have a feeling that when you have a title in hand, you know how to convince them to produce it.

Focus is a company that is committed to artistic freedom and support for projects. For me, the fact that the private theater bets on productions with a vocation for public service is a privilege. In the Content Council, we talk and decide every week collectively, always trying to move forward and try new things. I feel heard and respected within the company. Now I’m directing A father-in-law for rent at the Goya, where I also lead the artistic production of the family musical The invisible threadwhich is a Viu el Teatre production that we have programmed with Focus.

“Barcelona must not compete with Madrid or Broadway”

Have we finally put the comparison with Madrid behind us?

Let’s forget about it. Barcelona does not have to compete with Madrid or Broadway; it has its own identity and we don’t need to try to replicate models. The musical theater is in New York and London because it is theirs. They invented it. And surely in Barcelona we can do a better musical than some of the ones that have been done on Broadway. But our obsession does not have to be this. Barcelona is different, we have something else and we can also contribute a lot.

And in the future, do you see Barcelona with more large format musicals in Catalan?

I think so, but it’s a process that takes time. with Gulf of Rome we lit a spark that has made things happen. I think it’s a medal we can wear. Now, for the first time, there are specific subsidies to make large-format musicals in Catalan that were not there before. This opens doors to things that will happen in the future, hopefully soon.

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