Andrew Lloyd Webber and Antonio Banderas are collaborating to create a joint venture company Amigos Para Siempre (APS) aimed at producing musicals, stage plays and live entertainment for major markets in the Spanish-speaking world, including Latin America.
Upcoming productions will include Made in Spanish for Lloyd Webber classics, such as “The Phantom of the Opera,” “Sunset Boulevard,” “Starlight Express,” “Jesus Christ Superstar,” “Evita,” “Cinderella,” and “Joseph and The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.” and ‘School of Rock’.
The rights to adapt the Spanish language for these works will be ceded to the new joint venture by Lloyd Webber, Really Useful Group.
Building on a friendship spanning decades, APS will also license works to third parties, as well as develop and produce original shows for the Spanish-speaking market, the world’s largest and most easily accessible non-English market, distinguished by its theater and music. The scene is experiencing strong growth.
The joint venture will be overseen by Emmanuel Nuñoz, CEO of NuCO Media Group, who has deep knowledge of the global Spanish entertainment scene, and Jessica Coravos, president of Really Useful Group.
“Antonio Banderas is not only part of the entertainment property, but he is also one of the most diverse creative minds I have the pleasure to work with,” said Lloyd Webber.
He added, “It is really touching to be collaborating with Antonio to present my work, Plus other great Broadway and West End titles in new markets. Although millions of people across the Spanish-speaking world already love our shows and music, there is an extraordinary appetite for receiving more and extraordinary levels of musical and theatrical talent. I can’t wait to work with Antonio to bring Spanish-language products to the world of exceptional quality.”
“I had the great privilege of working alongside Andrew while recording and filming the famous musical ‘Evita’ in 1996. But when I saw ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ during the early part of the ’70s, Banderas said, ‘I was really impressed with the music, the theater and the incredible talent of Andrew Lloyd’ Webber”.
He continued, “It would not be wrong to say that I became an actor because of the tremendous impact and powerful influence I felt while watching Andrew’s musicals. Having the opportunity to work again with one of the most respected and admired composers of all time, presenting his wonderful work to a Spanish speaking audience. It is one of the most remarkable achievements in my business career.”
Banderas first came to attention acting in a small theater company in his hometown of Málaga, southern Spain, before moving to Madrid and working at its National Theatre, where he admired Pedro Almodovar.
Settling in Europe in recent years, returning to his roots, he put his many energies into founding Teatro del Soho CaixaBank, based in Málaga, opening in 2019 with the movie A Chorus Line that he directed and starred in.
He recently reprized both roles in “Company,” the first-ever Spanish-language adaptation of Stephen Sondheim’s George Forth classic. Argentinian Ricardo Darin (“The Secret in Their Eyes”) starred in May in a Spanish-language version of Ingmar Bergman’s “Scenes from a Marriage”, which was shown at the Teatro del Soho which also hosted in 2021 one of Spain’s most successful academies. Goya Awards Ceremonies in History.
Now Banderas would like to take some of this live entertainment experience to the still underserved Spanish speaking world.
[ad_2]
