History:
Thalia Spanish Theatre, a nonprofit organization, was established in Sunnyside, Queens in 1977 by actress/director Silvia Brito. We are the only BILINGUAL HISPANIC THEATRE in Queens, serving a Hispanic population of more than 600,000 from every Spanish-speaking nation in the world. In 29 years we have produced more than 100 plays, zarzuelas and Folklore Shows, and are known as an important venue for new plays from Spain and Latin America. Renowned Spanish playwrights Antonio Gala, Jaime Salom, and Jerónimo López Mozo have traveled from Spain to attend the American or World premieres of their plays at our theatre, as well as Mexican most prominent contemporary writer Carlos Fuentes. In 1987 Mr. Gala, then-president of UNESCO, read his "Message for World Theatre Day" at the opening night of our production of LA REVOLTOSA.
In 2001 we began to produce plays by authors from the Americas. We are committed to the preservation and promotion of zarzuela, a form of Spanish musical theatre which combines operatic singing with dialogue. We began producing zarzuelas in 1985, and are celebrated as a leading producer of this unique genre of Spanish musical. EL DIARIO/LA PRENSA named us "the cathedral of the zarzuela in our community."
In 1987 we began presenting Folklore Shows of music and dance from Spain and Latin America, which require no knowledge of Spanish. Starting in 2001 we will produce original dance musicals exploring the Hispanic experience in the United States.
In 1995 we inaugurated FESTIVAL DE THALIA AL AIRE LIBRE/FREE OUTDOORS FESTIVAL, four free concerts in our local park every June.
In 2000, for the first time, we began to produce our musicals and operettas with BILINGUAL CASTS, alternating performances in Spanish and English. Our first bilingual production was the Spring 2000, World Premiere of EL GUERNICA DE PICASSO/PICASSO’S GUERNICA, a multi-media fusion of drama, music and dance, directed by Mr. Gil. Since then we have produced all of our plays and musicals with bilingual casts
Our mission is to celebrate the vibrancy and diversity of Spanish and Latin American culture with unique productions of plays, musicals and dance.
