The Apolo Theater in Barcelona comes back to life. After almost two years closed due to the failed management of the previous team, one of the great theaters in Barcelona reopens its doors on the 18th. It does so at the hands of Smedia, one of the giants of Madrid’s billboard, where it manages theaters such as the Alcázar , the Gran Vía, the Fígaro, the Lara or the Capitol. They want to make a program that listens to the public and they set ambitious goals: 350,000 to 500,000 viewers a year.
Enrique Salaberria, president of Smedia
To start they bet on a musical, Who Killed Sherlock Holmes? , with Daniel Diges, Teresa Ferrer or Julia Möller. Then another musical will come, Antoine , on the life of Saint – Exupèry, creator of The little Prince , and they have in their portfolio Lord Nightingale of Joglars o Bernarda Alba’s house from the National Dramatic Center. And for the next season, the popular musical Fame . For now they open giving away 1904 tickets –the Apollo opened in 1904– from today through QR codes on canopies. The president of Smedia, Enrique Salaberria from San Sebastian, spoke with The vanguard .
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Why the Apollo and why now?
When a space goes on the market because the management that has been done until then is not adequate, there is an opportunity. And the opportunities when they come you have to
live them. When you fall in love, you don’t think about whether the time is right. El Apolo is a theater that is the history of Barcelona and Spain. It has enormous emotional and cultural value. And a very important economic potential. It had a devalued management model and it is the opportunity to enter with another that works correctly and is recognized. That is why we have dared to face the project.
Do you feel that it is a landing of the Madrid theater in Barcelona?
I see it as sharing the experiences that are common to us.
Is the public in Barcelona the same as in Madrid?
And that of Paris. And the one in London. And the one in New York. You have the work Escape room in the theater in Barcelona and we are the producers of the version in Madrid. You have The Grönholm method in Barcelona and is also now in Madrid. In the end we have the same things. In Barcelona Galceran is superstar and at one time he has done better in Madrid. What is the difference? From Jordi Vallejo we did The test and in Madrid it has had the success that it has not had in Barcelona. I am interested in a good text that I like and in which I see potential. I want it to be universal. Let them come from Colombia, see it and buy the rights to Jordi Vallejo and live well of it. The opposite is to reduce you to nothing.
‘Who Killed Sherlock Holmes?’ opens the new stage of the Apolo theater
In any case, how do you see the Barcelona billboard from Madrid?
Barcelona is like Barcelona, Madrid like Madrid, Paris like Paris … In the end, the promoters each read the public in their own way, but what we all seek is success.
Jordi Galceran used to say that Barcelona lacks more space for popular theater. Do you share it?
Shakespeare was popular in his day. And Goldoni in his time. And Molière. And also Lope de Vega. Only
popular theater transcends time, the rest is forgotten.
“There is no Barcelona theater and Madrid theater. There is creation, authors, art”
Are things going to get with the Apollo that didn’t?
It is one more space. It will allow more things. There is no Barcelona theater and Madrid theater. There is creation, authors, art. There are going to be things that are born in Barcelona and that we will take to Madrid, as we have always done with Tricicle, with Sea and sky by Dagoll Dagom. And others will go from Madrid to Barcelona. And if we can take them outside, if they work, we will. And the good ones work everywhere.
The rest is topical. In Barcelona this type of theater is made, in Madrid this … You have to analyze who puts the money for that production, how many days of exhibition it has had, how much public has seen it. Is a theatrical production a show that is in a theater for three weeks and stays there, can something that people don’t see be art? Then they give them prizes but the public goes unnoticed. It is like giving an Oscar to something that has not been seen. In time what people see has remained.
“The Apollo is going to listen to the public. You can go as a behaviorist and tell people to see a certain thing, but he will go whatever he wants.”
What line will the Apollo have?
It is a container. It must be open not to a line but to the society that is speaking. A receptacle for the emotions of society. And the theater always anticipates events, therefore it has to go ahead. If not, it is a museum. It must set the pulse of society.
Isn’t it very ambitious to have 350,000 to 500,000 viewers?
It is what we have in Madrid. It is achieved by working and listening to the public, it is our most important task. You can go as a behaviorist, you have to see this, but the public will go to see what they want. He is sovereign and must be respected.
What has been the key to the success of musicals in Madrid?
Private industry has known how to get closer to that human mass that comes to Madrid to live a cultural experience. We have understood each other. We have made products with them in mind. When the public wants to see something they are not worried about what they have to pay, what they are concerned about is that it is good and that it excites them.
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