THE UMBRELLA ZARZUELA

April 5 and 6 / 7:30 p.m.

Musical direction Borja Quintas
Stage direction and dramaturgy Liuba Cid
Production MUN and AGAO

Music: Federico Chueca and Joaquín Valverde

Soloists: Marina Pardo, Alejandra Acuña, Javier Povedano, Francisco García

90 minutes

€28, €26, and €24
Special discount for students: €12.60 in the courtyard
Special discount for UNAV employees and AGAO members: 20%

Additional discounts with youth card. 20% discount + €5 discount vouchers.

Inspired by Chueca and Valverde's workEl año pasado por agua(1888),La zarzuela de los paraguasis a version that incorporates musical themes and plot lines from other works of the so-called "género chico" genre, such asLa gran víaandAgua, azucarillos y aguardiente.

Last year was a wet one, full of popular characters and comical references alluding to that year, 1888, when it rained nonstop throughout the country. A satirical portrayal of Spain at the turn of the century, it premiered to great success at Madrid's Nuevo Apolo theater in March 1889. Now it comes to Pamplona in its 21st-century version,La Zarzuela de los paraguas (The Umbrella Zarzuela),with the aim of reviving the best of zarzuela: music, lyrics, and theater, with a fresh, fun, dynamic, and contemporary take.

ThisZarzuela de los Paraguas, a contemporary zarzuela, isthe result of collaboration between students and professionals. Participants include the University of Navarra Symphony Orchestra, the University of Navarra Choir, groups from the Theater Training Plan and the Performing Arts Production Program, students from the Design Degree program (ETSA), and the Gayarre Association of Friends of the Opera (AGAO). 

ARTISTIC CREDITS

Adaptation by Liuba Cid
Version, dramaturgy, and staging by Liuba Cid
Stage direction: Liuba Cid
Musical direction: Borja Quintas
Direction of the OSUNAV: Borja Quintas
Direction of the Unav Choir: Ekhi Ocaña

University of Navarra Symphony Orchestra
University of Navarra Choir
AGAO. Gayarre Association of Friends of the Opera
University of Navarra Theater Training Program
University of Navarra Creative Campus

SYNOPSIS

The umbrella zarzuelatells the story of a country flooded by adverse weather conditions, political tensions, and citizens' concerns about various issues that trouble everyone, including taxes, agriculture, city traffic, and other topics. The character of the New Year arrives in the city of Pamplona with the aim of putting an end to all these evils, promising everyone that he will stop the heavy rains that flood the city, bring back the sun and, with it, the solution to all problems.

A UNIQUE PROJECT

A hallmark of Campus Creativo, the activities offered to students often provide the opportunity to participate in creative and artistic projects in close contact with artists and professionals in the cultural sector. 

On this occasion,La Zarzuela de los Paraguasis a unique and interdisciplinary project that brings together teams of very different kinds. It involves the University of Navarra Symphony Orchestra and the University of Navarra Choir, as well as students from the Theater Training Program and the Performing Arts Production Program. They are joined bydesignstudents, who will be responsible for designing the set.

Alongside them, AGAO members share their expertise with young talents.

Borja Quintas, director of the University of Navarra Symphony Orchestra, is responsible for the musical direction of the project and accompanies Liuba Cid, who is responsible for adapting the text and stage direction. 

BIOGRAPHIES

Liuba Cid
Adaptation of the play and stage direction

Born in Havana, Cuba. Doctorate cum laude in Arts and Humanities from Rey Juan Carlos University (URJC). Member of the Spanish Academy of Performing Arts (AA.EE). In 1991, she obtained a Bachelor's Degree in Performing Arts from the University of the Arts in Havana, Cuba, specializing in Theater Direction and Acting, obtaining a Gold Diploma. She has a degree in Music from the Amadeo Roldán Conservatory of Music in Havana. She has been a direct student of Italian director Eugenia Barba and German playwright Heiner Müller.

He has directed more than 50 theatrical productions, devoting much of his stage work to contemporary interpretations of the classics of the Golden Age. He has published several books on theater technique and specialized articles on theater. In 1994, he won the award for Best Staging with his musical version of Azorín's Old Spain at the Chicago American Community Theatre Festival, as well as other awards such as Best Stage Design, Best Musical Adaptation, and Best Costume Design. In 2020, she won the National University Theater Award. She also won the 2021 Ibero-American Award for Communication, Culture, and Orality, awarded by the Ibero-American Chair of Oral Narration.

She currently teaches Art Theory in the Humanities Department at Rey Juan Carlos University, in the area of Art History. She is the director of the Mephisto theater company, an Ibero-American theater project that brings together actors, designers, and choreographers from Ibero-America and Spain. She is the editorial coordinator of Ediciones Cumbres©. 
 

Borja Quintas
Music Director

Artistic director of the University of Navarra Symphony Orchestra and the JMJ Symphony Orchestra, Choir, and Choir School, among others, Borja Quintas has conducted some of the world's most important ensembles, such as the London Symphony Orchestra and the New Russia Symphony Orchestra. He has accompanied soloists of the stature of Plácido Domingo, Javier Camarena, Ainhoa Arteta, and María Bayo, and has been intensely active artistically in Russia since graduating from the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow. He is also professor of Orchestral Conducting at the Conservatory of Music of Aragon and director of the Master's Degree in Conducting at the Katarina Gurska Conservatory in Madrid.

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