‘Ánima’, from the public theater to the general public
Many people know musicals like Les Miserables or Hamilton. What not everyone knows is that both are landmarks of large-format musical theater born in subsidized environments: Les Miserablesdriven by the Royal Shakespeare Company at the Barbican in London, i Hamiltonat the Public Theater in New York. In Anglo-Saxon ecosystems, making the leap to commercial exploitation is something natural: it is what is known as a transfer (“transfer”): public incubation, private exploitation.
In Catalonia, on the other hand, this chain is one rare grandparents: first, because we hardly release large-format musicals in public theaters, and then, because the move to the commercial sector is an exception. Therefore, the path ofsoulpremiered at the Teatre Nacional de Catalunya (TNC) in 2024 and now in season at the Títre Tívoli, from February 27 to April 5, deserves special attention.
It must be remembered, however, that this leap towards commercial theater is only the culmination of a creative process which, in our context, is difficult to compare with Anglo-Saxon models. In Catalonia, newly created large-format musicals do not have intermediate stages such as test workshops open to the public (“workshops”) a year before the premiere, nor a period of prior performances outside Barcelona that allows the show to be tested, adjusted and rewritten before the official presentation.
When a newly created musical premieres here, it almost always does so directly in its final version, with no margin for error or reshoots, and that makes potential transfers all the more exceptional.
soul was born five years ago almost as a personal brainchild of its creators: Blanca Bardagil, Oriol Bures, Víctor G. Casademunt i Marc Gómez. It was not a commission, nor did any institution guarantee minimum creative conditions that would allow the project to be developed to the standards required by a musical of this magnitude.
It wasn’t until, as part of the Greek Festival of the summer of 2023, that the tournament appeared RIIIING! Musicals that knock on the door. That’s where the team ofsoul he was able to publicly present the accumulated material that until then had rested in a drawer. Again, the need for the support of public facilities became clear, especially in this laboratory phase.
This new season at Teatro Tívoli will also allow something especially precious for any creator: to give a second life to his work and, in turn, take the opportunity to adjust, rewrite and present an even more refined version of it. And that the passage ofsoul by the TNC already convinced envelopes: in the seven weeks on the poster it filled the Great Hall (17,298 spectators and an occupancy of 92.97%) and aroused an enthusiasm that has not stopped growing.
In the background, soul it talks about occupying spaces that until now seemed inaccessible. The idea that a newly created musical in Catalan can reach a stage like that of the Títre Tívoli is the best demonstration of this. The show takes us to the animation universe of the 1930s as a metaphor for an internal process: drawing until you find your own voice. How many librettos and scores must still be sleeping in anonymous drawers, waiting for a competition, a festival or an institution to give them the opportunity to become the next great Catalan musical?
More information, images and tickets:
