Viva Teatro!

Saturday, February 11, 2017

Last night we went to the theater. Like most everything in Lisbon, it was a short walk from our apartment.

We saw Amalia: A Musical, the life and career of Amalia - Portugal's legendary and beloved Fado star. It was wonderful! The staging was clever, the voices spectacular. Three Amalias - as a child (amazing voice in a very young girl), as a young woman and as the fully mature idol she became. It was really a Fado opera. A board above the stage gave key parts of the story line in English, Spanish and French. And, of course, John could translate some of the dialogue.

At the end the producer came on stage and made an appeal for the audience to "spread the word" as the local television and news outlets seem only to care for football. "Viva teatro!" were his parting words. This play has been performed in a number of countries and been seen by "millions".

Theater here starts at 9:30 pm, so we had time for a leisurely dinner at As Velhas. It was after midnight when we departed. It was a wonderful experience.

Waiting for the show to begin. Lovely theater.

Today we get out of the city. We plan to drive to Coimbra for an overnight, then on to the Yeatman in Porto for a couple of nights. We are finally using the car we picked up on Febrary 1 that has been sitting in the garage since. We got this car via a short term lease that keeps the cost down. However, at the rate we are using it the actually cost may be very high per kilometer! ;-)