Zarzuela - La Verbena de la Paloma

Event information

The Luis Fernández de Sevilla Lyrical Company presents "La verbena de la Paloma", one of the most famous and important zarzuelas of the género chico. It has broken box office records season after season at the EDP Gran Vía Theater in Madrid, with a cast of great professionals from the Spanish lyrical scene. All the flavor of a typical Madrid street fair on stage. We are paying tribute to Plácido Domingo's parents, Pepita Embil and Plácido Domingo Ferrer, Spanish artists who performed and promoted zarzuela throughout Latin America with Mexico as their headquarters. For this, we have invited Polo Falcón, a zarzuela artist who worked in their company for years and who will portray our emblematic character D. Hilarión from "La verbena de la Paloma" in some performances. The action takes place in the popular neighborhoods of Madrid, during the celebration of the Virgin of La Paloma. Don Hilarión, the apothecary, and Don Sebastián discuss the heat of the night, while the neighbors are in a festive mood. Everyone except Julián, who is consumed by jealousy provoked by his girlfriend Susana. "Señá" Rita, who cares for him like a son, tries to console and advise him, but she cannot prevent the boy from discovering that Susana's aunt, Antonia, wants to match her with the apothecary, although he is indifferent between her and her sister Casta, whether blonde or brunette. The mess at the "verbena de la Paloma" has begun. We don't know why "La verbena de la Paloma" is the most successful title in all of the Spanish lyrical genre repertoire. There are many reasons it could be: its wonderful music by Tomás Bretón, a fun and witty libretto by Ricardo de la Vega that captures all the essence of late 19th century Madrid, or perhaps our staging that, while classic, includes wonderful género chico numbers and some newly composed ones that seamlessly blend with the original work and are greatly appreciated by the audience. The truth is that our production of "La verbena de la Paloma," with over 14 consecutive years at the Teatro Gran Vía in Madrid, is not only a classic of Spanish lyrical stages, but a guarantee of fun for all audiences, whether familiar with the Spanish lyrical genre or not.