After being a bestseller, having been translated into 25 languages, having had a sequel and having been filmed in a series, El tiempo entre costuras, the first novel by María Dueñas, has turned into a musical Yesterday at the Llotja School of Art and Design, in Barcelona, the assembly was presented that will be on the billboard at the Apolo theater for six weeks from September 28.
"It never occurred to me that the novel could have a new life transformed into a musical", began María Dueñas herself at the presentation press conference. The writer was accompanied by Darío Regattieri, from the production company Beon; the musical composer Ivan Macías, and Enrique Salaberria, from the Smedia group, which manages the Apol·lo theater. The actors Alba Cuartero and Jan Forrellat were also there, who give life to the two protagonists, Sira and Marcus, and at the end they performed two songs from the play.
Dueñas remembers that he received the proposal in the midst of a pandemic. "I stayed at the Atocha station, in Madrid, with Ivan Macías, who taught me several songs that I had already composed and how to plan the scenography. At the time I didn't say anything, but we both knew he would accept", comments the writer.
"My biggest concern was that the soul of the novel was respected - he adds. Then you can take some license, as the series achieved, betting on drama, emotion or intrigue, but without losing sight of the plot and the tone of the original story”. And the result has been completely satisfactory: "I have seen the essence of the musicalized novel", assures the author.
The musical El tiempo entre costuras is a work of almost two and a half hours with 22 musical numbers, 30 actors on stage and seven live musicians that has already been successfully performed in Madrid, Seville, Valencia and Zaragoza. Both the writer and the producer and the composer agree that their favorite musical number is the theme performed by Candelaria, the owner of the pension, who is a tanguillo from Cadiz.
But perhaps one of the most spectacular aspects of the musical is the costumes, considering that the protagonist of the story is Sira Quiroga, a neighborhood dressmaker who gets to dress the wealthiest classes. In the work there are a total of 295 costume changes, with their corresponding accessories, such as shoes, jewelry or wigs. The designer in charge is Marietta Calderón, with the exception of the 22 models worn by the protagonist, which have been created expressly for this work by Lorenzo Caprile.
"We tried to make most of the dresses, fabrics or accessories from the period," says Swiss producer Darío Regattieri. And María Dueñas says: “The costumers searched among suppliers from all over Europe, the Nazi jackets or military caps are authentic and it shows. It has a different appearance." And so it was recognized at the last Talía awards for the performing arts, where Caprile and Calderón were awarded for the costumes of El tiempo entre costuras. Yesterday at the presentation, four costumes from the play were exhibited. Sira wears two of them, and therefore they are from Caprile: one at night, draped in green, and another cinnamon-colored shirt, which corresponds to her beginnings as a dressmaker.
The story of El tiempo entre costuras develops during the years before the Spanish Civil War and until the end of the Second World War, and tells the story of a young dressmaker from Madrid who, after a sentimental betrayal, is forced to start a new life in northern Morocco and then in Lisbon and Madrid. The novel was published in 2009 and 4 years later the series premiered with Adriana Ugarte, Peter Vives and Rubén Cortada, among others.
In the musical, the two leading roles will be played by Alba Cuartero and Jan Forrellat. They both have a lot of experience in musicals. Forrellat has worked on El médico, Los miserables and West Side story, among others: "This year I celebrate 10 years working in musicals - explains Forrellat - and there is no better way to celebrate than with a title of such magnitude and read by millions of people. Although it is also a responsibility". And for Cuartero (El médico or La historia interminable) "it is a pride to interpret a feminist story of a fighting, strong and self-made woman".
After the Apolo theater in Barcelona, the play will travel to Málaga, Cádiz, Bilbao and Córdoba and they hope that it can then be performed abroad. "We are used to adapting musical works from abroad. It is not common for them to be ours and also with the intention of exporting them, as is the case with this one", explains María Dueñas.
The writer is working on the adaptation of Sira (the continuation of her first work) for a series, in addition to working on a new novel. Today he is traveling to Paris because the Spanish subject at the Lycée Français will include the compulsory reading of El tiempo entre costuras.
