Category Archives: Entertainment

Pedro Almodóvar’s new film La Mala Educación (Bad Education) is now in the cinemas

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Pedro Almodóvar’s new film La Mala Educación (Bad Education) opened in Madrid last night. It was due to open last week but was cancelled due to the awful bomb attack. It tells the story of 2 men, one a film director, who meet in the 1980s, 20 years after they attended a Catholic school together as children during the time of Franco’s rule in the 1960s. The film is said to be partly autobiographical but the director has denied this, saying it is ‘personal’. The official page for La Mala Educación is packed with trailers, photos and the director’s script. It is unlikely that you will be able to see the film with English subtitles in Madrid. A list of cinemas where you can see the film can be found on El Mundo’s Metropoli.

Disney on Ice arrives in Madrid!

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Today sees the first day of the Disney on Ice show in Madrid. The show carries the subtitle ‘100 years of Magic’ and will feature all Disney’s classical characters, like Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Jimmy Cricket. The show is split into 2 parts and visitors will be able to see scenes from classic Disney films like ‘Beauty and the Beast’, ‘Aladdin’, ‘Mulan’, ‘Toy Story’ and ‘the Lion King’. The show will also feature songs, such as ‘Can you feel the love tonight?’ from the ‘Lion King’. It will run until the 22nd February at the Palacio Vistalegre.

Timetable: Thursday – 7 pm; Friday – 7.30 pm; Saturday – 12 pm, 4 pm & 7.30 pm; Sunday – 12 pm, 4 pm & 7.30 pm.
Prices: from 15 to 40 Euros. Family ticket 16 Euros/person for family of 4.
Ticket Offices:El Corte Inglés stores, Servicaixa (902 33 22 11) or in any Halcón Viajes travel agent.
Address: Palacio de Vistalegre
Metro: Oporto or Vista Alegre
Related Article: Mad About Madrid: Skiing in Madrid

‘Cats’ – The Musical comes to Madrid

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On December 17th, in Madrid’s Teatro Coliseum de Madrid, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical ‘Cats’ will open. The musical, a success from day one, has been shown in 300 cities and tranlsated into 10 languages. The last few months have seen a lot of activity in ‘Musical Land’ with We Will Rock You, Cabaret and now Cats opening in Madrid. Let’s hope that more will follow.

Tickets can be bought at the theatre itself or fromEl Corte Inglés, either on-line or at the ticket office in the store. Prices range from 25 to 60 euros
Address: Gran Vía, 78
Metro: Plaza de España

Christmas fun at El Corté Inglés

Like every Christmas, the famous department store El Corté Inglés has decorated one side of its store in the Puerta del Sol, for the entertainment of children. You will find a number of different scenes with animated characters, loads of scenery and all accompanied by music. For many Madrileños, this has become an annual ritual, often followed by chocolate with churros in the Chocolatería San Ginés. Great fun for all!
The times are: 11 am, 12 pm, 1pm and 2pm and 6, 7, 8, 9 and 9.30 pm from Monday to Thursday and 12, 1, 2 and 3 pm followed by 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 pm on Saturday and Sunday.

Metro: Sol.
Address: Calle del Maestro Vitoria (parralel to the main opening)

Christmas Market in the Plaza Mayor

The Christmas Market, held in the Plaza Mayor, will be officially inaugurated on the 5th December, though stalls will start selling from the 28th November. The market comprises many stalls that sell all sorts of Christmas goods, from tinsel and Christmas trees to wonderful nativity scenes. This year the market stalls will be placed along the 4 sides of the Plaza Mayor, the idea being to create a plaza within a plaza. Look out for the posters, designed by the artist Delia Piccirili, which will adorn the ends of the stalls and which depict “Christmas in Madrid”. This year there will be two large nativity scenes on display, one by the artist José Luis Mayo and the other given by the Comunidad de Murcia. The municipal organisations will try to make sure that all Christmas lighting is consistent all over the city and have enlisted the help of traders across the city.

Metro: Puerta del Sol

Related Links
Madrid Opens Ice Rink for Christmas (2005)
Children the Central Focus of Christmas in Madrid (2005)
Christmas Lights Around Madrid
(2005)
Christmas Nativity Scenes and Markets in Madrid (2005)
Retiro Ice Rink Opens for Christmas (2005)

“Cabaret”, the Broadway hit, arrives in Madrid

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A second major musical is coming to Madrid this Autumn. The musical “Cabaret”, directed by Sam Mendes, comes to the Nuevo Teatro Alcalá de Madrid on October 15th. Sam Mendes, of American Beauty fame, along with Chicago director Rob Marshall, have brought the show to Madrid having achieved major success with it on Broadway. The theatre has undergone a dramatic change in order to turn it into the Kit Kat Klub, replete with black tables, red lamps and even a couple of bars, from where the public can be served!! It sounds like it will be the show of the Autumn, possibly beating “We Will Rock You”. However, what will happend when “Cats” arrives in December?!

Tickets: from the theatre box – c/ Jorge Juan, 62 – Metro: Príncipe de Vergara – Tel: 91 426 47 79 or from El Corte Inglés – Tel: 902 26 27 26. Prices range from 15 to 65 Euros (unfortunately the El Corte Inglés web site is in Spanish but you could buy from one of their many stores in Madrid).

Related Links
‘Cats’ – The Musical comes to Madrid
“We Will Rock You” comes to Madrid

“We Will Rock You” comes to Madrid

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The rock musical “We Will Rock You” hits the Madrid stage on October 1st. The show was written by Ben Elton and Queen and has been a huge success in London. Opening night tickets, at the Teatro Calderón (Metro Puerta del Sol), have been sold for weeks now but other nights are still available. If you’re looking for tickets, try buying from the theatre itself; from ServiCaixa or from the store FNAC (which is located in Metro Callao). I have also come across these sites where you can purchase tickets (October 1st): Halcon Viajes and Queenonline.com. If you can speak Spanish, take a look at the article written in El Mundo’s theatre section.

Related Links
‘Cats’ – The Musical comes to Madrid
“Cabaret”, the Broadway hit, arrives in Madrid