French cinema maintains a particularly close relationship with its musical stars. From Juliette Gréco to Benjamin Biolay, many musicians have stepped in front of the camera in projects that don't appear to be mere promotional vehicles, but rather natural extensions of their artistic aspirations. One of the most recent additions to this tradition is Juliette Armanet, a singer who seems to have developed a taste for acting in recent years, and who finds in Choosing my life The intersection of their talents.

Blood brothers It originated in the early 1980s as a commissioned play for high school students. Shortly after, author Willy Russell adapted it into a musical that garnered acclaim in the West End, on Broadway, and also in Barcelona, with the 1994 production premiering at the Teatre Condal, directed by Ricard Reguant and co-starring Àngels Gonyalons. From the Condal's audience, Daniel Anglès learned the story of Mrs. Johnstone's twins, separated by their mother's precarious situation. He then joined the cast for the tour and has now taken on the direction of a new and successful version that deliberately distances itself from both the London and Barcelona originals.

When she was thirteen years old, Mariona Castillo saw for the first time Blood brothers From the back rows of the Teatre Condal, it was there that she wanted to dedicate herself to musical theater. "I saw it live three times and on VHS every day for a long time," she confesses. This Friday, she presented it from the stage of the same theater, thirty-one years later, having become one of the most important voices in Catalan musical theater and in character as Mrs. Johnstone, one of the protagonists. "I've had to make a conscious effort not to remember that version that I know by heart, because we've rehearsed from scratch as if it were a new production," she assures. "I don't feel Àngels Gonyalons' shadow looming over me [who played her role], but rather accompanying me and giving me her blessing, as if I knew her."

If there is a show that can be considered the king of musicals, for almost 40 years, it is The Phantom of the OperaAndrew Lloyd Webber's production, originally premiered in 1986 in London's West End and in 1988 on Broadway, has year after year reaffirmed its throne as one of the most-seen and most-awarded musicals in history. Considered a classic of the genre, the show has been performed uninterruptedly in the United States and the United Kingdom for over 30 years, but until now, no one had ever brought it to Catalonia in its entirety. The first to do so is the production company Lets Go, in a project spearheaded by Antonio Banderas, performed in Spanish and already on the bill for the last two years in Madrid. It will now run at the Tívoli Theatre in Barcelona from September 23rd to February 1st of next year.

The six wives of Henry VIII are best known for their tragic ends. They have been described and told to us as the wives of a monarch with a reputation as a tyrant and lacking much compassion, whom Charles Dickens defined as "a blot of blood and grease on history." They were Catherine of Aragon, Anna Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Anna of Cleves, Catherine Howard, and Catherine Parr: two died executed shortly after giving birth; and of the other three, two had their marriage annulled by the king. All six are the protagonists of the musical. Six, which has won two Tony Awards, has been nominated for a Grammy, and has traveled around the world since its premiere in Edinburgh in 2017. It is seen by 3.5 million spectators a year, and this weekend it arrives in Barcelona. The six women—Henry VIII does not appear at any point, but is mentioned a lot—will dance and sing at the Teatre Coliseum until May 11.