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Anglo-American Musicals in

Spanish TheatresMarta Mateoa

aUniversidad de Oviedo, Spain

Published online: 21 Feb 2014.

To cite this article:Marta Mateo (2008) Anglo-American Musicals in Spanish Theatres,The Translator, 14:2, 319-342, DOI: 10.1080/13556509.2008.10799261

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ISSN 1355-6509 St Jerome Publishing, Manchester

The Translator. Volume 14, Number 2 (2008), 319-42 ISBN 978-1-905763-10-8

Anglo-American Musicals in Spanish Theatres

MARTA MATEOUniversidad de Oviedo, Spain

Abstract.This article aims to stimulate interest in the translationof musical texts by examining Anglo-American musicals sung inSpanish, a genre which has yielded some of the most outstandingsuccesses in Spains theatre world ever since its arrival in the 1970s.

It offers a historical overview of the reception of stage musicals inSpain and examines the criteria for the selection of source textsfor performance in sung translation. Extra-textual factors suchas audience needs and expectations, production processes andcommercial and economic constraints are examined closely inan attempt to contextualize a translation phenomenon which hashelped to ll a cultural gap and has had a signicant impact on

the Spanish theatre system. The article demonstrates that the suc-cessful importation of Anglo-American musicals into Spain has beeninstrumental in fostering the autochthonous production of a genreapparently foreign to the countrys musical tradition. A number ofconcepts are borrowed from theatre and cultural studies, as well as

from pragmatics, to explain this phenomenon, including reverence,

productive reception and social relevance.

Keywords. Musical theatre, Anglo-American, Spain, Preliminary norms,

Reverence, Acceptability, Autochthonous creation, Social relevance,

Contextualization.

Musical texts have become an important part of our daily life and their impact

has frequently been felt across cultural and linguistic borders. Translation,

in its various forms, has certainly played a role in this respect. Yet musical

texts do not seem to have attracted as much interest from translation studies

scholars as other text types such as lms and advertisements which haveoften been the focus of research on multimedia translation. Most studies de-

voted to translation and music have so far centred on opera, but there is closecollaboration between words and music in various other genres too, suchas traditional, religious, pop, childrens and protest songs, liederand, in thedramatic sphere, Singspiele, ballad-operas, masques, Spanishzarzuelas, and

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Anglo-American Musicals in Spanish Theatres320

nally musicals, which are the focus of this article.1Musicals are both similar to and different from opera, which is generally

considered the most important musical theatre genre. I will not venture a pre-

cise denition of musicals or operas here, considering that the very essence ofopera has often been the subject of discussion among musicologists (Rubiera1993:38, 46, Arkus 2003:12-13).2In terms of the similarities, sufce it to saythat both operas and musicals make use of multiple communication channels

and signifying codes, in the reception of which we may distinguish an auraldimension (vocal and instrumental) and a visual one (lighting, costumes,

scenery, kinesics and proxemics) (Gorle 1997:236, Mateo 2001:31), and

the verbal text is mostly transmitted through singing, which is the essenceof the artistic experience both in opera (Rubiera 1993:75-76; see also Gorle

1997:237-40) and in musicals. As for the main differences between the twogenres, one is the divergent artistic and musical quality, as well as the socialfunctions, assigned to each genre in the musical theatre world (see section 2

below). The other difference is the presence of spoken dialogue in musicals;while opera librettos are transmitted entirely through singing (punctuated byrecitatives to the strains of background music), musicals alternate sung parts

and spoken dialogue. This entails a further consequential difference: the prom-

inence of singing makes opera a genre more strongly marked by convention

and artice; so much so that voice becomes the main factor in characterization

(Rubiera 1993:92-94). A character will be dened by the singers voice, ratherthan by his or her physical appearance, age, colour, facial/body expression or

even sex. This is not so in musicals, in which the incongruity principle orconventional unlikelihood which underlie opera texts (Rubiera 1993:87-88;see also van den Hoogen 2005:9-10, 12) is much weaker. Musicals are morerealistic in terms of singer-role matching and are, in this respect, closer to

(conventional) productions of plays.

The norms governing the type of translation chosen for these two musi-cal-theatrical genres are different too: the majority of opera houses nowadays

(at least in the Western world) resort to surtitles to convey foreign operas totheir audiences.3In musicals, on the other hand, sung translation is the norm

in most target systems, including that of Spain. This divergence in translation

1We could also cite the increasing use of music in theatre productions. As has tradition-

ally been the case in cinema, composers are now frequently commissioned to write piecesfor theatrical performances (Marco 1987:707-708). However, since the function of thesemusic pieces like that of lighting and costumes is to accompany the verbal text, create

an atmosphere and reect the feelings and emotions of the characters, rather than to serve

as the transmission channel for speech, their relevance for translation is only marginal.2In fact, the increasing preference for more general terms such as musical action, musicaldrama and music for the stage reveals a tendency to avoid more precise descriptions; butthese terms may also comprise the other types of theatre texts mentioned above.3Exceptionally, in some European countries, sung opera translation can also be observed

quite regularly.

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Marta Mateo 321

strategies between operas and musicals is mostly due to social, historical,ideological and economic factors rather than to technical or artistic ones (Mateo

1998:209-15, 2001, Sams 1996:173).4

Musicals, then, may be said to be half-way between operas and plays,both as a genre and in terms of the translation strategies involved. The choiceof translation in performance (rather than surtitles) brings the musicals

closer to drama texts, but the prominence of music marks a real difference

between them and plays during the translation process itself. In any case,the translation of all three genres is affected by the semiotic complexity

of their texts, the ephemeral and transitory nature of their reception, the

multiplicity of agents taking part in a single production, and the confusion

traditionally surrounding the terminology used to describe the target texts,

variously labelled as translations, versions, adaptations and/or rewrit-ings (Aaltonen 2000, Mateo 2002).In what follows I will focus on the increasing presence of Anglo-American

musicals on Spanish stages and on the crucial role translation has played in

this importation process. Stating that this article will be centred on musicalsoriginally in English is more of a description than a limitation; as will becomeobvious in section 1, most productions performed on Spanish stages from the

1970s onwards were derived from British and American musicals. I will rstreview the evolution of the production and reception of these foreign musicals

in Spain, and will then proceed to contextualize their translation, paying at-tention to factors such as translation policy, i.e. those factors that governthe choice of text-types, or even of individual texts, to be imported through

translation into a particular culture/language at a particular point in time

(Toury 1995:58), as well as to other extratextual aspects, such as audienceneeds and expectations, production elements, and commercial and economic

factors, all of which should help to explain the introduction and establishmentof this foreign genre in Spain.

1. The reception of Anglo-American musicals in Spain: a historicaloverview

The origins of musicals in Spain may be traced back to the 1970s, when thecountry welcomed the very rst great production on its stages: JesucristoSuperstar, the Spanish version5of Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webbers

4More discussion on this issue in relation to Spain is offered in Mateo (2001:43-47), wherePierre Bourdieus theory of the sociology of arts was used in order to explain Spanish audi-

ences divergent perception of opera and musicals, and the inuence of this perception onthe language and type of translation chosen for each genre.5I will be using the terms version, adaptationand translationas synonymous, as I agreewith Johnston (1996:65-66) that the distinction between, for example, translation andadaptationin theatre translation rests on a false dichotomy (see also Aaltonen 2000:41-46, Mateo 2002:55-56).

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successful work, which had opened at the Palace Theatre in London in 1972and was to become the longest-running musical of the time. The Spanish show

proved to be a good bet on the part of its producer, the famous singer Camilo

Sesto, who also played the leading role and became one of the most popularJesus Christs in the world. The show opened in Madrid in 19756and wastranslated by Nacho Artime and Jaime Azpilicueta, who would thus start asuccessful career working together in the adaptation of foreign musicals intoSpanish. The English original was in fact rst released as an album, beforeit could be heard on London and Broadway stages, a formula which was to

become common in the production of other musicals that followed and, oc-casionally, of their translated versions as well.7

The 1970s also saw the creation of the most famous Spanish musical-theatre

company, the Catalan Dagoll Dagom. Their 1978 play Antavianawas thebeginning of a successful track record which reached its peak in 1989 withanother original Dagoll Dagom production,Mar i cel, translated into Span-ish asMar y cielo(Sea and Sky). This play became a reference point in thehistory of Spains autochthonous musicals and has enjoyed fame and prestige

beyond the countrys borders a German version of it opened in Halle in

March 2007. But the way to the late 1980s success of this Catalan companyhad been paved earlier in the decade by two British musicals performed onSpanish stages: Gilbert and Sullivans The Mikado,translated and performed

by Dagoll Dagom themselves in 1986,8

and Rice and WebbersEvita, theirsecond hit, which had opened in Londons West End in 1978 (after a 1975record release) and was translated into Spanish and co-produced once again by

Nacho Artime. The SpanishEvitaopened in Madrid in 1981, with well-knownsingers Patxi Andin and Paloma San Basilio; the latter was to perform as theleading actress in several other landmark musicals in the following years.

We must not assume, however, that all these earlier successes were pro-duced against a favourable background. All the productions which did wellwere in fact exceptions amongst several failures. Musicals had not yet won

the Spanish stages or audiences, who generally despised these pieces as

6The rst night was a tremendous and memorable success, with a six-minute standingovation when the curtain came down, Artime recalls in the 2005 Spanish CD libretto(all translations from Spanish are mine, unless otherwise stated). Jesus Christ Superstarhas seen some recent revivals and an updated version in the 1990s, both in Britain and in

the USA. Spain saw another Spanish production ofJesucristo Superstarin 1984 and hasalso welcomed a completely new version, opening at the Teatro Lope de Vega in Madridin September 2007 and produced by Stage Entertainment a theatre which has come to

symbolize the genre of musicals in Spain and a production company which has played animportant role in the countrys musical boom, as we shall see below.7For example, the 1999 Spanish production of Greasewas preceded by a CD released in1998, publicizing the ofcial Spanish version.8Dagoll Dagoms 1986El Mikadohas recently been updated and restaged; in 2006 it starteda successful tour around the country, which was still going on in 2007.

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Marta Mateo 323

americanadas typical American things (Artime 2003). Moreover,zarzuelas(Spanish popular light operas)9and variety shows were still present in peoplescollective memory, nancial and production means were limited and ticket

prices were ridiculously high (ibid.). A key Broadway title such as MichaelBennett, Marvin Hamlisch and Edward KlebansA Chorus Line, for exam-ple, was a failure. There was a icker of hope in 1992 withLos miserables,produced by the impresario Jos Tamayo together with Plcido Domingo andCameron Macintosh also responsible for the rst English production of thismusical in the West End, in 1985 who all decided to take the risk of sup-

porting this genre in such unfavourable circumstances in Spain and achieved

a resounding success: the musical enjoyed a two-year run in Madrid.10Afterthis hit, however, the genre seemed to sink into oblivion in Spanish theatres

again with the exception of the odd production, like the 1996El diluvio queviene(After Me the Deluge) or the 1997 Spanish version of Bernsteins WestSide Story (which kept the English title), both of which did fairly well.11

The late Luis Ramrez then embarked on an ambitious project which be-came a landmark in the history of musical theatre in Spain: the production of

El hombre de la Mancha, the Spanish version of American playwright DaleWassermansMan of La Mancha(1965). For the adaptation into Spanish, asthe newspapers referred to it at the time, Ramrez engaged Nacho Artime. Theleading roles were taken by Paloma San Basilio who had already proved she

could be the queen of musicals in her rendition of Evita and a prestigioustheatre actor, Jos Sacristn. Everything seemed to change on the Spanishmusical scene after this impressive and startling work (Artime 2003), which

brilliantly merges scenes fromDon Quixoteand events from Cervantes life.The musical opened at the Teatro Lope de Vega in 1997 and achieved a phe-nomenal success: a daily audience of 1400, bringing in 400 million pesetas

(approximately 2.5 million euros) in six weeks takings, even though the

9A lyric-dramatic genrethat alternates between spoken and sung scenes, the latter incor-porating operaticand popular song as well as dance.10Despite the fact that Victor Hugos novel had rst been turned into a musical in Frenchon a Paris stage in 1980, it was the London musical, which soon opened in Broadway in1987, that became famous worldwide and was used as a source text for numerous transla-tions, including this Spanish version, the only one that has adapted the original title Les

Misrables.11After Me the Delugewas based on David Forrests 1972 book with the same title,whichwas rst turned into a musical in Italian (Agiiungi un posto a tavola) by Garinei and Gio-vanni in 1974. This was one of the rst musicals on a Spanish theatre, since a Spanishtranslation of the Italian adaptation was performed at the Teatro Monumental in Madrid in

1977, even before its London production at the Adelphi Theatre in 1978. The 1996 Span-ish performance was produced by successful show business and theatre impresario JosLuis Moreno, who would later put it back on stage in a new production in the 2005-2006season (Artez 2005:29). The Spanish 1997 production of West Side Storywas performedby a Catalan company directed by Ricard Reguant and Miquel Ortega, who went on touraround Spain. Its Spanish translation and adaptation belongs to Albert Mas-Griera.

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tickets were the most expensive in the country. It later went back on stage atthe Teatro Caldern in 2004 and toured around the country in 2005.

El hombre de la Manchaled to an upswing in the popularity of the musical

genre in Spain which has continued to this day. The same work also pavedthe way for Ramrez to secure copyright permission for another Broadwayhit, Grease. With this second production the goal was, as the impresario putit, to debunk the widely held myth that Spain cannot do musicals, a mythalready undermined with the success ofEl hombre de la Mancha.12Ramrezs

project actually went beyond the production of these two musicals; his goalwas nothing less than turning Madrids avenue Gran Va into the SpanishBroadway (Artime 2003):

[He] was the culprit sparking off the trend that would start to ll upour theatres with legendary international titles, which had not previ-ously managed to take root on our glorious stages. ... It was a clearand risky bet: if these musicals had succeeded elsewhere, why not heretoo? Lets reclaim the wonderful theatres in the Gran Va, which havegone mouldy with so much cinema; lets turn on the neon lights; thisis going to be Broadway.13

When impresario Jos Tamayo producedLos miserablesat the Teatro Apolo,he had already entertained the idea of having a theatre in Madrid devoted

exclusively to the performance of musicals. His dream came true in the end,and was even surpassed as the Teatro Lope de Vega and gradually all the othertheatres in the Gran Va became the home of musical performances in Spain;the Gran Via is now frequently referred to as the Spanish Broadway. Accord-ingto the Madrid City Councils website in 2007,

The Gran Va runs most of these [musicals] and has already becomewell-known worldwide.EvitaandJesucristo Superstar succeeded onthe stage decades ago; butEl hombre de la Mancha, CatsandEl fan-

tasma de la perawere indeed the great forerunners of a genre whichis becoming more and more established in our theatres.14

12[Q]ueremos romper el mito de que en Espaa no se pueden hacer musicales, algo que

hemos iniciado ya con el xito alcanzado porEl Hombre de la Mancha (La Nueva Espaa1998:75).13[Luis Ramrez] fue el culpable de encender la mecha para empezar a llenar los teatroscon unos ttulos legendarios en todo el mundo y en todos los idiomas que no acababan deenraizar en nuestras gloriosas tablas. La apuesta fue clara y arriesgada: si triunfan entodo el mundo, por qu no aqu? Recuperemos los maravillosos teatros de la Gran Va que

estn enmohecidos de tanto cine, que se enciendan los neones, esto va a ser Broadway.14La Gran Va acoge la mayora de estos espectculos y se ha convertido ya en una callede referencia en todo el mundo. Si hace dcadas triunf Evita o Jesucristo Superstar,xitos comoEl hombre de la Mancha, CatsoEl fantasma de la pera, fueron los grandesprecursores de este gnero, cada vez ms asentado en nuestros teatros (Portal Ocial delAyuntamiento de Madrid, http://www.esmadrid.com, accessed July 2007).

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Marta Mateo 325

With the spectacular mise-en-scne ofEl hombre de la Mancha, Teatro Lope deVega was able to prove that it could host the most elaborate and sophisticatedstage sets. The same theatre put on the next great production of that decade:

the 1999La Bella y la Bestia. It was brought over from New York, where themusical version of DisneysBeauty and the Beasthad opened in 1994. Movinginto the 2000s, the Spanish audiences could now enjoy, in their own language,musicals with impressive and magical scenery and lighting, such as Chicago,Te quiero, eres perfecta... ya te cambiar (I Love You, Youre Perfect IllChange You Later),Memory: de Hollywood a Broadway (Memory: fromHollywood to Broadway),A Little Night Music, Sweeny Todd,La mujer delao (The Woman of the Year)andRent.15The year 2000 nished with two

popular childrens shows,Pippi Calzaslargas (Pippi Langstrum) andAnnie,

plus yet another production by Luis Ramrez, once again translated by NachoArtime: the musical adaptation of Robert Louis StevensonsJekyll & Hyde,whichhad opened in Broadway in 1997. The leading role in Spain was givento one of the most popular singers in the country, Raphael.16

The rst years of the present decade saw other resounding successes.MyFair Lady opened in 2001, under the English title of Lerner and Loewes1956 Broadway musical adaptation of Bernard Shaws Pygmalion. It was

performed by the same couple who had brought glory to El hombre de laMancha; was translated into Spanish by Artime and Azpilicueta, once again

working together, and was produced by Cartel Teatro and Stage Entertain-ment, which would later be responsible for many other hits. In order to hostthis production, Teatro Coliseum had to be extended through the acquisition

of an adjoining building.

In 2002,El fantasma de la perawas staged. This was Artimes Spanishtranslation of one of the most renowned musicals: Mackintosh and WebbersThe Phantom of the Opera, which had opened in London in 1986 and inBroadway in 1988 and had won numerous awards.El fantasma de la perawaswelcomed as the title of the year in Spain and was described as a musicalwith all the glamour, charm and surprise of the best Broadway and West Endshows (Uras 2002).17Indeed, despite the fact that Teatro Lope de Vega hadalready held some impressive sets, its stage was not big enough for this oneand the producers had to go to great lengths to t it in.

15As is increasingly common with lms from the USA, the titles of some of these Spanishversions were kept in the original English; or, as can be seen in the case of Memory: de

Hollywood a Broadway, a subheading in Spanish was added.A Little Night Music, whichopened in Catalan at Barcelonas Festival Grec, included a Catalan alternative title inbrackets:Msica per a una nit destiu(Music for a summer night).16A CD of the Spanish version of this musical came out in 2001 this time afterthe show.17Un musical con todo el glamour, el encanto y la sorpresa de los mejores de Broadwayo del West End.

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Sam Mendes and Rob Marshalls version of Cabaret,18which had rstbeen staged in London in 1993 and then moved to Broadway in 1998, wasthe one chosen for the Spanish translation and adaptation in 2003, done by

Gonzalo Demara, and once again produced by Stage Entertainment, withJaime Azpilicuetas dramaturgical adaptation. The production has even thewell-known themes Cabaret and Money, money translated into Spanish(ingeniously alternating money, which serves to remind the audience of theoriginal refrain, with the Spanish colloquial termpasta, which is more ttingto the tune than the three-syllable neutral term dinero). The Spanish Cabaretused the same stage design as in Broadway, with Broadway directors travel-ling to Spain to supervise the whole project now a common working patternin the production of foreign musicals. The show was on in Madrid until thesummer of 2006, becoming the longest-running musical of the past couple of

decades with a total of 33 months and attracting an overwhelming number ofspectators (900,000 people). It then started a tour around the country whichwas still on in the summer of 2007.

It was no wonder that 2003 should close with the opening of a WestEnd legend, Cats, which went on stage in its Spanish version in Decemberthat year. Lloyd Webbers 1981 work is often acknowledged as the perfectmusical. As a Spanish reviewer put it at the time of the shows opening on

Madrids Gran Va, with this work the British composer redened modernmusicals, challenging, and beating, Broadways successful and widely ex-ported shows.19After 21 years on the London stage, and now on tour aroundthe United Kingdom, Catsmay be considered the greatest record-breakingmusical in the history of the genre. Its Spanish production, again supervised

by a team of directors from the source production, was partly made possibleby the extension added to Teatro Coliseum forMy Fair Lady, which enabledthe theatre to hold this spectacular stage set.

Catsand Cabaretwent on stage practically at the same time as two other

musicals: Siete novias para siete hermanos(Seven Brides for Seven Broth-ers),20and We Will Rock You(based on the hits of the British band Queen).21At the end of 2003, ve musicals could be seen on Gran Va at the same time,which explains why the media started to seriously compare it to Broadway. In

18The rstCabaretwas John Kander, Fred Ebb and Joe Masteroffs 1966 theatre produc-tion. This was followed by Bob Fosses famous lm in 1972, featuring Liza Minelli. Thencame another Broadway production, directed by Harold Prince in 1987, and nally this

one, directed by Mendes and choreographed by Marshall.19Es una apuesta britnica ideada por Andrew Lloyd Webber en 1981, con la que rede-ni los musicales modernos y ech un pulso, al n vencedor, a los exitosos y exportadosespectculos de Broadway (de los Ros 2003).20Translated by Octavi Egea and Ricard Reguant and produced by Spektra Entertainment.21Adapted by Luis lvarez and supervised by Queens Brian May.

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Marta Mateo 327

2000, we could already read that musical theatre [was] in vogue on Madridstages and all over Spain; in 2003 Alvarez observed:

The impression that you are in the heart of Broadway is gettingstronger. You only need to take a look at the Madrid theatre guide;it will conrm the unstoppable boom enjoyed by musicals, a genrewhich is bringing back to the theatre houses the audiences they had

been lacking.22

As Artime (2003) observes, Madrid thus suddenly and surprisingly became

the second European capital in the production of musicals; it was now onlysurpassed by London, and naturally Broadway. In fact, Artime entitles his

article Esto no es Broadway (This is not Broadway) and discusses someproblems such as the risk of an excess of offer (Madrids relatively smallerpopulation compared to London or New York and the rather disproportionatenumber of musicals produced per year) or the large budgets required to put

on the shows, which often discourage the local impresarios; he neverthelessnishes off on an optimistic note: This is not Broadway. Yet..

Indeed the genres popularity is still growing. The list of theatre productionsstaged in Madrid from January to September 2004 compiled by the SGAE(Spanish Authors National Association) and ranked according to audience

numbers shows musicals holding the rst three positions all three showsproduced by the international rm CIE Stage Holding (Stage Entertainment).In 2005, among the rst ve shows there were again three musicals, one ofwhich, interestingly enough, was a Spanish original:Hoy no me puedo levantar(I Cant Get up Today), a show based on songs by Mecano, a famous Spanish

pop group of the 1980s.

Worldwide, there are now more and more musicals created around thesongs of popular bands. Mamma Ma!,23for instance, a smash hit based onABBAs songs, came to Spain in 2004 and closed in June 2007, after 1000

performances seen by a million people. We Will Rock Youwent back on stageat Madrids Teatro Caldern in January 2007, after nishing a tour around thecountry.Hoy no me puedo levantar, which emulates this successful formulaof setting a story to a pop-music bands songs, has been running since 2005

22The rst quotation comes from an article published by an anonymous 136, with thetitle El teatro musical est de moda (Anonymous 136 2000). The second quotationreads in Spanish: Crece la impresin de estar en el corazn de Broadway. Basta echar un

vistazo a la cartelera teatral de las salas de la capital para conrmar el imparable auge deun gnero, el musical, que parece estar devolviendo a los locales teatrales los espectadoresque les faltaban.23Also produced by Stage Entertainment. The lyrics of the songs were translated by AlbertMas-Griera and the rest of the source text by Juan Martnez Moreno. The directors andchoreographer once again came from the source production team.

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both in Madrid and in Mexico. Another Spanish musical, Quisiera ser(IdLike to Be), is based on the work of a very popular duo of the 1970s, the DoDinmico; it opened in October 2007. Both shows copy their foreign predeces-

sors in taking their titles after well-known pieces by each group.Other musicals produced in the early 2000s include El zorro (Zorro),Hermanos de sangre (Blood Brothers), The Rocky Horror Picture Show,Peter Pan, Cantando bajo la lluvia(Singing in the Rain) andFame. The lasttwo great productions so far, both by Stage Entertainment, have been VctorVictoria(Teatro Coliseum, July 2005), Azpilicuetas Spanish version of BlakeEdwards and Henry Mancinis 1995 Broadway show, considered by the pro-ducers as their most ambitious project so far in Spain, andLos Productores(Teatro Coliseum, September 2006-May 2007), the translation24of another

prize-winning Broadway production, Mel Brookss 2001 The Producers.Both shows engaged well-known Spanish singers and/or actors25and adaptedparts of the source texts to the Spanish target system in order to make them

more acceptable, in Tourys sense (1995:56-57). I will come back to thesetranslations in section 2 below.

Finally, some of the shows mentioned in this section are either still onin Madrid or on tour around Spain, the latter only when the shows do nothave extremely sophisticated sets requiring a particularly large stage. In ad-

dition, new versions ofJesucristo SuperstarandLa bella y la bestiaopened

in Madrid in the autumn of 2007. El rey de bodas, the Spanish version ofThe Wedding Singer, John Randos 2006 Broadway production, also wenton stage in Madrid in November 2007, directed by Rando himself. The year

2008 will bear witness to more new musicals, such as Dagoll Dagoms Enlos bosques, a version of Stephen SondheimsInto the Woods, and a Spanishoriginal creation and production,El diario de Ana Frank. Un canto a la vida(The Diary of Ann Frank. A Song Dedicated to Life), the rst-ever musical-theatre adaptation of the well-known book, which opened at Madrids TeatroCaldern in February 2008.

In terms of institutional patronage, the rst awards devoted to the genre which, predictably enough, have been named after Gran Va were givenat a special ceremony at the end of February 2007 (Premios Gran Va de losmusicales 2006). Meanwhile, the capitals musical boom has begun to echoin Barcelona, where the genre had not had much success except for DagollDagoms productions.26The recent achievements of Greaseand Mar i cel

24The source text of this musical play was translated by Carlos Martn, Alfredo Daz andRaquel Soto, and the songs by Xavier Mateu.25

Paloma San Basilio and Paco Valladares for Vctor Victoria, Santiago Segura and JoseMota forLos Productores.26This is despite the fact thatPalau dEsports(Sports Pavillion) was converted into a theatredevoted to musicals in 2002, under the titleBarcelona Teatre Musical(BTM). See Subirana(2004) for different opinions on why the BTM has not fullled initial expectations, and forthe general problems encountered by musicals in Barcelona.

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Marta Mateo 329

there have had a noticeable impact on attendance at theatre shows, which hasgone up to 60%. According to the president of Catalonias Theatre Business

Association, the unexpected and longed for success of Greasehas encour-

aged companies to reconsider the production of a type of theatre whichhad suffered a fall in popularity and is vital for the sectors health.27Someare very optimistic and already talk of the musical fever reaching Barcelona

(Pinedo 2007), which welcomed Mamma Main December 2007, after theshow closed its curtains in Madrid. Indeed, a feature article about the musicalvogue in Spain, published with the telling title Theatres Surrender to Mu-sicals, states: The great musical productions have taken over the theatres in

Madrid and Barcelona, and they are also huge box-ofce hits when they goon tour (Alvarez 2007).28

The preceding overview of the production of musicals in Spain calls for anexamination of the translational policies involved, which will hopefully give ussome insight into the factors underlying the establishment and success of the

genre. The evolution of the reception of musical theatre in this country offers

fertile ground for the study of (extra)textual factors, which play a signicantrole in the translation process. Section 2, then, will focus on these factors, notonly to contextualize the Spanish case, but also to enhance our understanding

of the socio-cultural dimension of translation in general.

2. Translation policy and contextualization

By considering the key shows in the history of musicals in Spain, the criticalreviews and newspaper articles that accompanied them, and the producers,translators, directors and actors published comments, we may be able to inferthe criteria behind the selection of musical (source) texts for performance,

which must have been a key issue in their success in Spain. Below, I will focuson certain (extra)textual factors which seem to play a role in this selection,namely source language and culture, social relevance and productive recep-

tion, commercial aspects, source text features and economic factors.

2.1 Source culture and language

The source culture and language have obviously been crucial factors in the

selection process as well as in the positive reception of the texts by Spanishaudiences. Given that English now casts its shadow on literary and cultural

production all over the world (Lefevere 1998:45), Broadway, and the West

27

[El xito de Grease] es una sorpresa inesperada y deseada. La produccin de musicaleshaba bajado y con este xito y el de Mar i celse vuelve a pensar en producir un tipo deteatro importantsimo para la salud del sector (Daniel Martnez, President of ADETCA,in Lpez Rosell 2007).28Los grandes montajes musicales tienen copada la cartelera teatral en Madrid y Barcelonay arrasan tambin cuando salen de gira.

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End in its wake, are clearly the main sources for Spanish musicals. As Alvarez(2003) observes, Stage Entertainment/CIE Stage Holding, the major company

staging musicals in Spain, chooses its source material by seeing pieces abroad.

The rst market is New York; then London, and then Germany.29

This situation may be seen within the context of the general cultural andlinguistic hegemony of the Anglophone world, especially since the secondhalf of the 20th century. Apart from the hegemony of the English language,

there are certain specic historical and cultural reasons behind this dominanceof Broadway and West End musicals in Spain. New Yorks theatre scene hadalready started to exert a powerful inuence on European drama at the begin-ning of the 20th century, because of the innovative nature of its plays and

productions (Celada 1995:186), and theatre had been an important agent of

the Americanization of Spanish culture before the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939). Consequently, after the Second World War, drama from the USA,

closely followed by drama from Great Britain, was given priority in text se-lection in Spain (Prez L. Heredia 2000:155-60, 169-89, Mateo 2002:47-49).Practically all the American plays translated into Spanish throughout the 20th

century had originally succeeded in Broadway (Celada 1995:189). Althoughtoday this does not seem to be signicant in the choice of American plays for

performance in Spanish theatres (Ansorena 2007), it still seems to affect the

selection of musicals. In fact, as Ansorena concedes in his article A quin

le importa Broadway? (Who Cares about Broadway?), where he comparesthe strong inuence of Hollywood productions on Spanish cinemas with themodest inuence Broadway seems to exert on theatre performances in Spaintoday, musicals are an exception,30and a conspicuous one in my view. Theymay actually be the new bearers of Anglo-American culture, having now joinedthe lm industry in carrying this culture into Spain.

2.2 Productive reception and social relevance

The introduction of Anglo-American musicals in Spain may also be inter-preted from the perspective of productive reception,a concept borrowedby Aaltonen from E. Fischer-Lichte in order to describe intercultural theatrerelations (Aaltonen 2000:49):

29La eleccin del programa de CIE Stage Holding surge a partir de ver piezas en el ex -tranjero. El primer mercado es el neoyorquino; luego, Londres, y despus, Alemania.30El impacto de Broadway en Espaa no es comparable al de Hollywood. La falta deconexin cultural y el riesgo econmico de las grandes producciones dicultan la llegada

de los xitos del teatro estadounidense. ...ms del 70% de los espectadores eligen pelculasestadounidenses. ... Sin embargo, qu pasa con el teatro? Broadway es la mayor industriade las artes escnicas del mundo [... p]ero el trasvase de obras desde el mercado estadouni-

dense a Espaa apenas es relevante. ... En cualquier caso, no se puede decir que el impacto

de Broadway en Espaa sea inexistente. Lo que s ha llegado a nuestro pas son musicalesque se han convertido en marcas internacionales (Ansorena 2007).

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Marta Mateo 331

An intercultural performance productively receives elements from the

foreign theatre traditions and cultures according to a problem whichlies at the point of departure . ... The choice of suitable texts is always

based on the needs of the target system and compatibility of the dis-

course of the source text with that of the target culture.

Both a perceived lack at the point of departure and the Spanish audiencesneeds and expectations have indeed played an important role in the selection

of the source texts and in their acceptance by the target system. As Lefe-vere argues, the distribution and regulation of cultural capital by means of

translation depends, at least, on the following three factors: the needs ofthe audience, the patron or initiator of the translation, and the relative

prestige of the source and target cultures and their languages (1998:44).Musicals in English have come to ll a cultural gap in the Spanish theatresystem (Even-Zohar 1978/2000:194), which could not be lled by the existinggenres, because these genreshave traditionally been assigned different socialand artistic functions by Spanish audiences, as I explain below.

The concept of social relevance,which Marti i Prez (1995) aptly appliesto the study of music, may be useful here. Marti i Prez borrows the notion ofrelevance from pragmatics in order to describe the extent to which a certaintype of music is of concern to, and has contextual effects for, a particular

society, community, ethnic group, etc. A music type belongs to a particularsocio-cultural area only when it has social relevance for it, i.e. when it producescontextual effects within that area (Marti i Prez 1995:4, 7-8).

Spain did have a tradition of musical theatre in the form of opera, operetta,

zarzuela and variety shows. However, at the time when musicals started to bepopular in Spain, opera had no social relevance for the majority of people in

that society. People did not have much use31for it despite being aware of itsexistence, as opera has traditionally been associated with social and culturalelites.Zarzuela,the national type of musical theatre genre, had reached its peakat the beginning of the 20th century, but fell into decline after mid-century,

probably due to the emergence of other forms of mass entertainment, such as

cinema and football (Marco 1987:704-705). It came to be considered a thing

of the past, a genre which could no longer yield new works and whose func-tion, when performed, could now only be preserving part of Spains artisticheritage (Marco 1987:705). Finally, the variety shows were seen by the Span-ish audience as closer to sheer light entertainment, carrying no artistic value.

31

The concepts of use and function elaborate what is meant by social relevance inMarti i Prez (1995). The way in which a particular type of music is perceived by a groupwill imply certain uses (which may be observed, for instance, in the type and number ofmusical events related to that music) and therefore certain functions in that community

(e.g. emotional expression, aesthetic pleasure, pure entertainment, providing a reference

model, social distinction, etc).

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There was no musical theatre genre in Spain, then, which could appeal to thegeneral public, could provide light entertainment and emotional experience

while laying claim to a certain artistic quality, and could touch upon topics and

present stories that were not associated with traditional Spanish life. Musicalscame to full all these functions.Social relevance may vary in range, depending on whether it reaches vari-

ous social strata or is limited to a particular social group, in terms of age, sex,

ethnic origin, class, education, etc. (Marti i Prez 1995:4-5). The impressive

stage sets and popular music numbers of the majority of musicals seem to

have counteracted the high ticket prices, enabling the musicals to attract those

social groups who have traditionally stayed away from the other two musi-cal theatre genres in fact from theatres in general such as young people

and children (Alvarez 2007:76). We may therefore argue that musicals havegradually acquired a wider social relevance thanzarzuelasor operas, sincethey came to appeal to people from a variety of backgrounds.

This does not mean, of course, that musicals are also assigned more socialimportance by musicologists, music critics or cultural elites. Social importance

is based on the aesthetic canon of a particular time and refers to the extent to

which a musical phenomenon achieves a certain value that has been attachedto it. Thus, social relevance and social importance do not necessarily go hand

in hand (Marti i Prez 1995:10). Musicals are assigned a lesser artistic value

even within certain sectors of the theatre world. Musical theatre actors arenot highly regarded notes Marta Ribera, who plays one of the leading roles inSpanish Cabaret(J.F. 2007). As part of Spains musical heritage,zarzuelasare

probably given greater social importance by musicologists and music critics,

even though, in my view, they now seem to have limited social relevance.32One reason for this may be that musicals are seen as foreign products,

even though they are greatly enjoyed by Spanish audiences. Yet, as Marti i

Prez very rightly points out (1995:2-3), the distinction between foreign andindigenous has interested the musicologists rather than the general public,

for whom the dichotomy own vs. alien has hardly ever been a criterion foracquiring ones musical taste. In those rare instances when it has, people havenormally favoured the foreign as representative of novelty, usually regardedas something positive. Therefore, the dichotomy of old vs. new would in fact

be more appropriate here than foreign vs. indigenous (ibid.).33

32The fact that some Spanish cities now holdzarzuelaseasons often subsidized by localauthorities is indicative of their social importance. The institutional aid whichzarzuelaandopera performances are now afforded in Spain shows that, despite their relatively limited

social relevance, they do perform certain social functions, for subsidies reect societysinterest, manifested through its institutions (Marti i Prez 1995:9).33En el mbito popular el eje semntico propio/ajeno no ha sido generalmente un grancriterio para marcar gustos musicales; y cuando s lo ha sido, ello se debe sobre todo porquelo ajeno representa novedad, algo visto fundamentalmente como positivo, y, en este caso,habra que hablar ms bien del eje viejo/nuevo.

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Marta Mateo 333

Moreover, the degree of overlap between the audiences of these differenttypes of musical theatre is probably very small. Antonio Moral, the current

artistic director of Madrids opera house, Teatro Real, observes that the young

sectors of the theatre-going public, who are now clearly targeted by variousmusical shows, will not necessarily develop a taste for opera. Musicals andopera are different genres neither being better or worse than the other, butnevertheless diverging in their aims and musical approaches (Moral, cited in

Vegas 2007).

2.3 Commercial aspects

The musical vogue in Spain today also reects the return of the popularity of

spectacle, as translator Nacho Artime explains in an interview (Rico 2004);people do not mind buying expensive tickets to see a good spectacle, whetherit is opera, ballet or musicals. Commercial quality then is another important

factor in the initial selection of source musicals and in the translation and

production process, as evident in the success of El hombre de La Mancha,described by Ramrez as a very high-quality commercial product.34Mostof the musicals translated and produced in Spain have enjoyed enormous

success in the source contexts and generally attained international renown.35Many of them had actually received important awards before they reached

Spanish theatres, such as the Tony awards (the equivalent of Oscars in thetheatre world). However, according to Julia Gmez Cora, director of StageEntertainment, these awards are not regarded as universal a trademark as theOscars; this means that prizes do not have a direct effect on the scheduling of

musicals in Spain (Ansorena 2007).

The anticipated commercial success of musicals may also depend on the

relationship they may have with cinema classics or hits (e.g. Singing in theRain andFame). Moreover, some musicals may be staged for the rst time,or be revived later, on an anniversary of the original lms release or ofthe rst Spanish production. The Spanish version of Seven Sisters for Seven

Brotherswas performed for the rst time on the lms 50th anniversary, whileJesucristo Superstarwent back on stage in September 2007 to celebrate its30 years as a musical in Spanish.

Famous singers and actors engaged for the musicals have also greatly

contributed to the success of the genre in Spain, not just because of their

34Hemos hecho un producto de calidad muy comercial (in Perales 1998).35

This was indeed the formula suggested in 2004 by Jordi Gonzlez, theatre impresarioworking forBarcelona Teatre Musical, to solve the problem of the fall in audience numbersin the 2002-2003 season: The objective is to bring musicals of international renown, likeThe Phantom of the Opera, and also go for works of Catalan authorship (El objetivo estraer musicales de renombre internacional, comoEl fantasma de la pera, y apostar porpiezas de autora catalana) (Subirana 2004).

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masterly performances but also because of their popular allure: Raphael is

Jekyll, Raphael is Hyde, announced the notices for Jekyll y Hyde. Indeed,whenJekyll y Hydewas about to open and a sense of expectancy was being

created, the producers stressed that the singer would be on stage during atleast 70 per cent of the show (J.C.G. 2000:75). The hiring of well-knownartists is certainly an effective commercial device. As we saw in section 1above, some of these artists have taken the leading roles in several shows.Sometimes, once a musical is rmly established, less famous actors or singersmay take over. This was the case with the 2004 revival ofEl hombre de La

Mancha, in which artists completely unknown to the general public took theleading roles which Paloma San Basilio and Jos Sacristn had performed inthe successful 1997 production.

2.4 Source text features

In addition to the factors mentioned above, certain features of the source texts

themselves may be signicant both for the initial choice of the musicals andfor their future success. In Ricos interview (2004), Artime considers a goodsource text as his very rst selection criterion. Indeed, many of the musicalsreviewed in section 1 are known for their remarkable scripts: Cabaret, The

Producers, Victor/Victoria, and especially Cats, which features T.S. Eliots

poems. It is also true, however, that the most commercially successful showsrely largely on their popular music (e.g.Mamma Ma,Fame, etc.).

Whether it is the text or the music, or both, that stands out, an important

feature in all successful musical productions is what might be broadly termedtheir universal nature in cultural terms. The music is sometimes alreadyknown worldwide before the musical reaches Spanish theatres (e.g. We Will

Rock You, Cabaret,Mamma Ma!), and the scripts frequently deal with cross-cultural and even timeless issues. This obviously facilitates their introduction

to and acceptance in the target system. In fact, Gmez Cora notes the absence

of cultural connection as one of the main problems in importing a foreign musi-cal in Spain (Ansorena 2007): for example,Jersey Boys, the most successfulmusical in the USA in 2006 ... would not succeed in Spain, as it is based onsongs which are only known there.36So cultural proximity, or at least not

being too source culture-specic, is another factor in the selection process.Nevertheless, despite the fact that the Spanish productions are clearly

source-oriented as regards the performance elements and approach being

supervised and sometimes even directed by staff involved in the original pro-

duction the textsthemselves are frequently adapted to the Spanish context.

Although offering a textual analysis of translated musicals is not one of the

36Por ejemplo,Jersey Boys, el musical de mayor xito el ao pasado en Estados Unidos,no creo que triunfara nunca en Espaa, ya que est basada slo en canciones conocidasen ese pas.

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Marta Mateo 335

objectives of the present article, it is worth giving a couple of examples of thistype of adaptation here. For instance, the libretto ofLos productoresintroducedvarious changes in order to remain humorous for the Spanish audiences. Apart

from including songs which Mancini had originally written but which hadnever been played in the Broadway production, the Spanish Victor Victoriaattempted to create a musical con mayor expresividad (with greater expres-siveness) and ms cercano a la sociedad espaola (closer to Spanish society),according to the director and adaptor, Jaime Azpilicueta (Europa Press 2005);it further emphasized the musical numbers at the expense of the claim for gay

rights, which was a central issue in the source text but was deemed not socrucial anymore in Spain,one of the rst European countries to have author-ized gay marriage. Dagoll Dagoms new 2006 version ofEl Mikadoupdated

and adapted Gilbert and Sullivans satirical comments, which now refer tothe Spanish ban on smoking, metrosexual men (i.e. heterosexual men witha strong concern for their appearance), trash TV shows and Catalan politics,among other things. One could argue that a process of acculturationwhichremoves the cultural anchoring and eliminates or minimises the relationship to

any specic culture (Aaltonen 2000:55) is applied on the textual level to tonedown the reverence strategy, through which the foreign is held in esteemand respected (ibid.:64) and which is resorted to at many other levels of thetranslation process, from the initial selection of texts to the mise-en-scne.

2.5 Economic factors

Among the factors which have a bearing on the importation of certain for-eign musicals as opposed to others, economic concerns seem to be the most

signicant (Gmez Cora in Ansorena 2007). To start with, it is much morerisky in nancial terms to import a theatre piece than a lm. The tickets aremore expensive and there is a danger of not being able to recoup the invest-

ment. Then there is the question of hefty copyright fees, which seem to bethe main consideration in the selection of musicals by most production rmstoday.37We must also bear in mind that, unlikezarzuelaand opera seasons,which often receive subsidies from the Spanish Government and/or localauthorities,38musicals are treated as commercial products, hence as part of

the private sector.

A musical theatre production involves many different agents writer(s),

37I am grateful to Mara Olas, from Stage Entertainment, for this information. See alsoRico (2004) for Artimes description of the nancial risks theatre impresarios take if they

decide to embark on the production of musicals, due to the increasing costs of copyright,rehearsals, stage design, etc., all of which have to be paid in advance. On top of that, audi-ence preferences seem to be a mystery; one can never be sure of success, not even withinternational hits.38In the case ofzarzuelas, this is partly a protectionist policy. In the case of operas, it isdue to the demand from the cultural elites.

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composer(s), directors, stage managers, actors, technicians, translator(s), etc.

and, in most cases, very spectacular stage sets. These all add up, making

musical theatre a very costly genre. For example, Stage Entertainment invested

well over 5 million euros in the production of Victor Victoria in 2005 (EuropaPress 2005). Artime (2003) has described musicals as expensive, competitiveand tending to rely on cloning, a type of show which brings great glory andapplause, and terrible nancial ruin when it does not do well.39It is no wonder,then, that ticket prices are high; furthermore, audiences are not necessarily like

opera lovers, who are loyal to their genre and have traditionally been preparedto pay handsomely for their artistic pastime. Nevertheless, musicals have often

enjoyed full houses in Madrid in the past few years.The need to house the impressive sets, which are usually one of the most

enticing features of these productions, and to have a theatre capacity largeenough to seat audiences who will pay back the whole investment makes thetheatres themselves another key element inuencing economic viability. Thisis why theatres in Gran Va have gradually been adapted and BarcelonasSports Pavillion was turned into the BTM. It also explains why the shows areusually produced in the same theatres and some productions cannot be taken

on tour because of their technical and stage requirements. Furthermore, some

production rms have paid special attention to managing their own theatres.40This has enabled them to offer Spanish audiences the same productions as

those that can be seen in London and New York, another enticing element, asevident in the following quote from Gmez Cora in Cabarets 2007 touring

programme:

We decided to bring to Madrid the most successful and emblematic

Broadway shows exactly as they are performed there, that is, with thesame production and the same creative team who had designed theoriginal. With this [Spanish] tour of Cabaret, we have taken onthe challenge of bringing musicals even closer, travelling to the main

towns in Spain with a similar production to the one which was seen inNew York, Madrid or which can now be seen in Paris.41

39[A]lgo tan caro, competitivo y clnico que da mucha gloria y aplauso y enormes ruinas

cuando no se logra.40See Stage Entertainments website, http://www.stage-entertainment.com/misc/186.html.Stage Entertainment now owns a total of 20 theatres, according to their website, in Madridand abroad. In Spain, they do not seem to own theatres outside Madrid, and they go on tourwith productions that do not require large stages.41

En su da apostamos por traer a Madrid los ttulos ms exitosos y emblemticos deBroadway tal y como se representan all, es decir, con la misma produccin y realizadospor los mismos creativos que concibieron el original. ... nuestro reto con la gira de Cabaretera acercar los musicales todava un poco ms recorriendo las ciudades ms importantesde Espaa con una produccin igual a la que se vio en Nueva York, Madrid y que ven

actualmente en Pars.

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Marta Mateo 337

Touring around the country is certainly another way to recoup the initialinvestment. Yet the above quotation shows that many of these productions aretreated very much like franchises; few local impresarios will undertake these

risky ventures. Hence, foreign musicals are usually produced by a handfulof big companies, as could be observed in the overview offered in section1. Indeed, this is the downside of the musical boom; as larger theatres aretaken over by international productions, Spanish authors are forced to per-

form in smaller, sometimes fringe theatres (Alvarez 2003). These franchised

shows are therefore not very popular within certain theatre circles in Spain,particularly in Barcelona, where the director and playwright Sergi Belbeland actress Angels Gonyalons speak of reinventing the musical genre and

going for more Mediterranean and recognizable shows, rather than copying

the American model (Subirana 2004). In fact, we may add here that, even inLondon and New York, there has been a lot of criticism of dramas surrenderto musicals, which has been considered as part of the dilution of the theatricalscene, reecting a general impoverishment of public culture.

3. Conclusion

Musicals have come to ll a socio-cultural and artistic gap in Spain; but sincethere was no indigenous repertoire in the country, they had to be imported.

In 1987, the composer and musicologist Toms Marco regretted that Spanishcomposers inevitably failed when they tried to produce musical comedy, agenre which hardly existed in Spain at that time.42In fact, with the exceptionof works by the Catalan company Dagoll Dagom, there was barely any auto-chthonous creation of musicals in the country.

And yet, the number of indigenous musicals in Spain has been growing,and today they are quite successful; examples includeEstamos en el airein1999,Antgona tiene un planandHoy no me puedo levantarin 2005, a musicaladaptation ofRomeo and Juliet in 2006, and Quisiera serin 2007. These pieces,

particularly those which copy the foreign formula of creating a story around apop bands songs, are probably the best indicators of the fact that [t]ranslation

may generate both indigenous writing and more translation, [acting] as a sourceof innovation and inspiration (Aaltonen 2000:70). While the importation of

Anglo-American musicals into Spain clearly follows what Aaltonen calls thereverence mode of translation (ibid.:64), this imitative creation of musicals

based on songs by famous bands conrms that [r]everence is [also] an im-portant element in further text generation (ibid.:70). It remains to be seen,however, whether autochthonous creation will go beyond this very commercial

formula or will be exhausted at this level.

42El fracaso ha sido sin excepcin cuando los autores espaoles han abordado la comedia

musical. ... [se puede] constatar que la comedia musical en Espaa apenas existe como

forma autctona (Marco 1987:706).

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Indeed, a stronger presence of Spanish originals is necessary for the es-

tablishment of the genre in the country. One of the most sought-after actors

for todays musical performances, Miquel Hernndez who plays the lead-

ing role in the newJesucristo Superstarproduction warns against relyingtoo much on revivals and musicals based on pop bands pieces (in lvarez2007:80-82):

There is a lot of mythomania and nostalgia in this. People love revivals,

and a show in which the audience knows the songs beforehand haspractically guaranteed itself success. But this is a gold mine which willone day be exhausted, and we will have to stretch our imagination andcreate our own musicals. I think thats where the future lies.43

The Spanish creation and production ofEl diario de Ana Frank, whose ex-ecutive director has been the rst to obtain permission from the Ann FrankFoundation to adapt the famousDiary, may be considered as an encouragingsign. In any case, the rendering of English musical-theatre texts into Spanish

provides us with a good example both of theatre translation as productivereception thereby making the own theatre and the own culture productiveagain (Aaltonen 2000:49) and of the cultural role of translation in general,

for it has supplied the target system with a new repertoire which has in turn

fostered the creation of new original pieces in it. Translation has certainlyplayed a major role in the establishment of musicals in Spain, conrmingAaltonens view that [t]ranslations are used as a way of increasing culturalcapital in the indigenous system (ibid.:64). That the genre has denitely takenroot in the country is shown also by the fact that specic courses on musical-theatre performance are already being offered.44

Musicals have therefore achieved considerable social relevance in Spain,

which is not determined by how long a musical genre has lived in a particularsociety but by whether it is lived socially (Marti i Prez 1995:11). Madrid45

has actually become the third capital of the production of musicals in the worldtoday. Its shows now boast excellent quality and substantial box-ofce takings.

43Hay mucha mitomana y mucha nostalgia en esto. A la gente le encanta el revival, yadems un espectculo en el que el pblico se sepa las canciones de antemano tiene prc-ticamente asegurado el xito. Pero esto es un ln que se acabar agotando, y habr queempezar a echarle imaginacin al asunto y a crear musicales propios. Yo creo que es muy

probable que el futuro est ah.44For example, the Universidad del Mar ran its second course for musical-theatre actors

in Murcia in September 2007.45Musical production in Spain has centred on one city, Madrid. But marketing strategies,

which include travel agents offering package weekend trips that cover a visit to the theatre(as is done in London and New York), were already used by Luis Ramrez for hisEl hombrede la Mancha in 1998 (Perales 1998). A large part of the audience therefore frequentlycomes from outside the capital.

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Marta Mateo 339

Spanish producers have even begun to export some of their ideas or sets. Ac-

cording to Azpilicueta, the London 2006 production of Victor/Victoriacopiedcertain features of the Spanish production, and the complex stage set created

forLos Productoreswill now be hired in other European countries.46

Contextualizing the translation process, including the translation policy

which governs the selection of source texts, has hopefully proved helpful inyielding information about the extratextual elements that determine the success

of the target texts. Aaltonens use of the term reverence and the pragmaticconcept of social relevance which serves to identify a societys musicallife, itself a reection of its cultural tastes and inuences both prove usefulhere: the musicals taking over the Madrid stages may also be seen as a further

step in the Americanization that Spanish culture has suffered in many other

areas, or as another manifestation of its reverence for socio-cultural productsemanating from the Anglophone world. The Anglo-American source cultureand language, then, as well as Spanish audiences needs and expectationsand the cultural proximity of texts have been decisive factors in the choice of

texts for translation and importation. Other extratextual factors, such as the

impressive and costly productions which go hand in hand with the return tothe popularity of spectacle, the adaptation of certain theatres to hold thosespectacular set designs, the hiring of well-known singers and actors for someof the leading roles in order to attract a wider audience and, particularly, the

fact that musicals have lled a socio-cultural and artistic gap (as argued inthis article) all account for the success of a form apparently foreign to Spains

musical tradition.

In this paper, my objective was to establish the context for the successfulimportation of musicals into Spain. An in-depth micro-textual analysis of the

source and target texts is an important undertaking which should be addressedin future research. This would involve detailing the translation strategiesadopted themselves equally signicant factors in shaping the reception ofmusicals.

MARTA MATEO

Departamento de Filologa Anglogermnica y Francesa, Universidad deOviedo, c/Teniente Alfonso Martnez s/n, E-33011 Oviedo, [email protected]

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