Antonio Banderas hires daughter for Spanish musical

by

Mariano Valladolid

Jon Nazca

Reuters

When Spanish actor Antonio Banderas, 61, needs an honest opinion about his new job as a theatrical manager, he turns to his daughter Stella, whom he hired as a second assistant director for the production of the musical “Company”.

Banderas, protagonist of “The Mask of Zorro” and dozens of other titles, will direct and star in a Spanish version of Stephen Sondheim’s 1970 Broadway show, which won six Tony Awards, in his hometown of Malaga, Spain .

“When we come home from rehearsals or we’re having dinner, that’s when he does his job,” he told reporters on Thursday.

“I ask her direct questions and she gives me direct answers. She’s playing an interesting role,” he said, adding that he has always trusted his daughter’s opinions.

The actor opened the Teatro Soho in Malaga two years ago as a non-profit center for the production, training and promotion of the performing arts. After a successful first year, the Covid-19 pandemic forced him to discontinue activity.

“Company,” which has never been performed in Spanish, opens on November 17th and has been adapted for a modern audience with permission from author Stephen Sondheim.

“It’s a cultured musical, written by one of the great Broadway legends, complex, without a traditional narrative, moves with ‘sketches’ and with a central character who wanders, who has tribulations, reflections on his life and the commitment he has acquires with his circle”, said Banderas in an event promoting the show.

Banderas, who retired from football after an injury during his youth, gained fame as the elegant protagonist of several Pedro Almodóvar films in the 1980s, including “Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown.”

He found Hollywood stardom in the 1990s, sharing the screen with Tom Hanks in “Philadelphia” and Brad Pitt in “Interview with the Vampire.”

Most recently, he starred in Almodóvar’s autobiographical film “Pain and Glory”, which earned him an Oscar nomination for best actor in 2020.

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