2023 has been the best year in the history of theaters in Barcelona”, Isabel Vidal, president of Adetca, the association of theater companies in Catalonia, announced yesterday. Vidal could not hide the euphoria of having broken the historical record of audience and box office for Barcelona theatres. “The only thing I’m sorry about is that the previous record was set in 2011, when I was president of Adetca Daniel Martínez de Obregón”, founder of the Focus Group, of which Vidal is general director.
In 2011 the record stood at 2,816,283 spectators. In 2023, after a crisis, a pandemic and a few wars, 2,845,015 viewers have been registered, which represents an increase of 1.02%. The infographic that accompanies these lines reflects very well the fluctuations that Barcelona’s theaters have experienced during these turbulent years.
At the press conference for this very memorable occasion, the Adetca board was accompanied in La Villarroel by the main representatives of the sector and, on stage, by the Generalitat’s Culture officials, the minister Natàlia Garriga; from the Ministry, Secretary of State Jordi Martí, and from Barcelona City Council, Commissioner Xavier Marcé.
The collection for the year 2023 was also the highest since there are records of theaters in Barcelona, ??since 1993, with more than 86 million euros. Despite the fact that there are always star shows, Vidal emphasized the fact that the record has been achieved thanks to the fact that all theaters have registered an increase in occupancy, which stands at an average of 60.43% . Theaters with less than 200 spectators have also broken their record, with 305,413 spectators and four million euros in revenue.
Without specifying audience or box office data, the president of Adetca did make public the list of the five shows that are at the top. At number one, El Mago Pop is placed with his Nada es imposible at the Victoria theater, directed by Mag Lari. 2023 has been a great year for Antonio Díaz, who has consolidated his Paral·lel theater, acquired a theater in Missouri and succeeded on Broadway. No wonder his show takes the gold medal from this five-drawer podium.
After the magic, in second place is the Impro show, the Planeta Impro show that is offered throughout the season at the Teatreneu de Gràcia. The format takes on a different look at each function, based on audience input. According to global data from Teatreneu beyond 2023, this format adds up to more than 8,000 functions and has been seen by 2.5 million viewers.
In third and fourth position are two musicals, the first in Spanish and the second in Catalan. At Tívoli, The producers, from Nostromo, with Àngel Llàcer and Manu Guix, directed by Enric Cambray, based on the musical by Mel Brooks.
And at Poliorama, L’alegria que passa, the latest musical of Dagoll Dagom’s own creation, based on a story by Santiago Rusiñol, which has featured Ana Rosa Cisquella, Andreu Gallén, Ariadna Peya and Marc Rosich in the creative team and, on stage, a great cast led by Àngels Gonyalons.
The fifth place is for a comedy, FitzRoy, by the always solvent Jordi Galceran, which can be seen again at the Borràs theater, now with Sílvia Bel, Míriam Iscla, Sara Espígul and Mima Riera, often with the sign “no hi ha tickets”.
Thanks to the increase in the public contribution – Councilor Garriga assured that 2% of the budget for Culture will be reached at the end of the legislature -, Vidal expressed: “We have more resources and, therefore, we can take risks for make new productions. We were able to put together a billboard that inspires confidence in the viewer. And generating a record means that all engines are working well: the public, the private, the big halls, the small halls, beyond a certain show”. “Now we face the world record of No empty seat”, he concluded.
