Aaron D.
Yelp
OK, I'm going to admit that I'm not 100% sure what was going on all the time in the Zarzuela (Spanish opera) performance we saw during our visit to Madrid.
But it was still a really fun experience for several reasons:
1) It felt authentic. They don't take American credit cards over the Internet. They don't even accept American credit cards in person. And the ticket seller at the box office spoke neither English nor French. Now this lack of tourist-friendliness might explain why the theater was only perhaps 2/3-full for a Friday night performance, but it did lead me to believe that most of the other patrons were locals enjoy an indigenous art form. And it's always nice as a traveler to be able to see an authentic cultural performance rather than one specifically designed to appeal to the preconceptions of tourists. (That said, I have to think if they made the experience a little more tourist-friendly -- perhaps encouraging concierges at high-end hotels to promote the shows, developing the capability to accept foreign credit cards, providing brief synopses of the performances in English or other languages) that they could probably sell out the auditorium, shoring up support for the art form and exposing a new audience to the pleasures of Zarzuela.
2) Speaking of those pleasures, the show alternated between a sort of narrative recitation, singing and dancing. Think of it as a variety show if you will. There were supertitles in Spanish that would undoubtedly be helpful for anyone who speaks the language relatively well. As someone who speaks the language very poorly, I was only able to pick out isolated words here and there. But I think I still got the gist of the stories, most of which seemed to have to do with jilted lovers. I was thinking of Zarzuela as an 'operetta' form and hoping for something lighter, but instead we got passion, drama and some fancy footwork in the dances.
3) The dances were really fun. Why pay to see a super-touristy flamenco show when you can see flamenco as part of a broader entertainment extravaganza.
4) I like historic theaters, ergo it was neat to be able to see an authentic Zarzuela performance in an authentic National Zarzuela Theater (circa 1873).
5) The time commitment is not huge. While some operas can be interminable with multiple acts, the Zarzuela performance that we saw consisted of two relatively short one-act dramas. The entire experience took less than 2 hours, including a 15-minute intermission.
6) I thought the performances were reasonably priced. Even the best seats I think are in the 30-40 Euro range, but we were able to get seats in a side balcony for ~11 Euro and we still had a pretty good view. The cheapest seats are just 5 Euro and if it's not that crowded (as I said, our performance was far from sold out) you should be able to shift toward a better seat when the lights go down.
I've no idea if it's all accurate, but Wikipedia has lots of interesting information about Zarzuela as an art form. Just as the Spaniards spread their language through conquest, apparently they also spread Zarzuela around the world and it reportedly continues to be popular in places like Cuba and the Philippines. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zarzuela
PS - Throughout the first half I kept hearing a crinkling-crackling noise behind me as if someone were taking 10 minutes to unwrap a cough drop. SUPER annoying. At intermission, I finally turned around to see that the couple behind us - Spanish, I believe - had been eating Toblerone and M&Ms throughout the performance! Now when I am a guest in a foreign land, I don't like to make a scene. But really? Is it traditional to eat noisy foods during a Zarzuela performance. Should I bring my own bag of popcorn to the next show? I tried to block out the background noise and focus on the show. Luckily, they must have finished their candy during the intermission because it was not a problem during the second half of the show.
