BWW Blog: Broadway in Brazil

Have you ever thought about the fact that there are musicals being produced in Brazil? Both Broadway adaptations and original work? Thanks to these shows, many are being exposed to the art form we love so much, myself included!

Brazil's musical theatre scene is growing, but it still is relatively small when compared to the US or the UK. However, we are ranked between the top 5 countries that most produce musicals (alongside Germany, Australia, France, The Netherlands). The first Brazilian production Escândalos premiered in 1950, and the first Broadway adaptation was My Fair Lady in 1965. However, it was in 2001 with a production of Les Misérables that we started forming a "music theatre industry" with an average of 5 shows each season in São Paulo. You could compare São Paulo as the Brazilian New York City. It's our big cultural metropolis, with all the hustle and bustle, diversity, as well as a huge population density.

Most musical adaptations in Brazil are licensed through their producers, meaning that the productions are the same (costumes, sets, lights, orchestrations) as the original ones but executed in a different language. What impresses me the most is the work of translators. Sure, you can translate the dialogue, but think about translating the lyrics to a song, keeping the same meaning, and making it fit the rhythmic division and melody. In general, Portuguese words are longer than English words. I assure you that it is a challenging task, and they are doing an excellent job.

As I've mentioned, it is a growing industry here. Now, directors and producers have better know-how; performers have better training (some even go to NY to study); audiences are more educated (at least a little more); musicians have more job opportunities than just orchestras; technicians, carpenters, all people involved in the making of a musical now have more opportunities.

Also growing is the number of original musicals being created down here. Many are jukebox/biographical musicals showcasing the life of big personalities, mostly from the entertainment industry. Cauby! Cauby!, Tim Maia - Vale Tudo, o musical, Milton Nascimento - Nada Será como Antes - O Musical, Elis - A Musical, Gonzagão - a Lenda, Chacrinha, o Musical, to name a few. Click here to watch a scene from Tim Maia - Vale Tudo, o musical.

You're probably thinking to yourself that the Broadway adaptations we have in Brazil are only blockbusters like The Phantom of the Opera, Rent, Evita, The Sound of Music. Yes, these internationally known musicals are popular in Brazil, mainly because of their movie versions. But to your surprise, (because I know how surprised I was to learn about this), we've had many Broadway underdogs produced here, like Ghost, Rocky Horror Show, Nine, and Xanadu.

Speaking from experience, the first musical I ever saw live was the Brazilian production of Beauty and the Beast in 2002. I was four. Since then, travelling to São Paulo to see shows became a lovely experience for my family and me. We've seen My Fair Lady, Mamma Mia!, The Addams Family, The Lion King, Crazy For You, Sister Act, Wicked, Cinderella, Singing in the Rain, and Les Misérables. I would like you to watch this trailer from our production of Wicked to show you how identical it is to the original Broadway version. And just like Wicked, most of these shows follow the same pattern. I've had the opportunity to watch Les Miz both in London and in São Paulo. The biggest difference, aside from the language, was that our stage down here was probably twice as big as the West End. I saw The Lion King here in 2013 and recently saw it on tour during its run in Cleveland. It was so interesting to compare both productions. The ONLY thing that has changed was the language. That's it. Everything else was identical.

I'm proud of our evolving music theatre industry, and it was very interesting to research more about it before writing this article. I hope you've learned something because I certainly did! Obrigada!

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