Journey to the bowels of the Royal Theater

Beyond the elegant stalls and its renowned stage, the Royal Theater of Madrid hides in its stage and throughout its facilities a complex network of machinery and personnel that makes possible the quality of the stage productions it offers, especially the operatic, and which in 2021 earned it the award for best opera company in the world at the International Opera Awards.

Millimeter precision in its assemblies and exquisite care of the details are some of the secrets that explain this success, a work little known to the public, despite the visits offered by the Madrid coliseum and through which an average of between 100 and 150 people.

Precisely, to make the backstage of the Teatro Real known in more depth and offer a more complete vision of one of the most emblematic stages in the country, this double centenary institution and the Madrid City Council have gotten to work to offer and teach to visitors, both local and foreign, the true guts of the Real, because “behind a great play and a great representation there is a lot of work, very conscientious, very professional and that is synonymous with excellence,” highlights the City Council. capital one of its promoters, the Tourism delegate Almudena Maíllo.

What is hidden behind the scenes is one of the highlights of the Teatro Real, a space similar to a 22-story building – 14 of them on the surface – and the rest in the Madrid underground, with its lowest part reaching a greater depth. than the Metro tunnels that pass close to and even come across streams of underground water channeled and controlled by pumping motors that are continually shrinking.

This is explained by those responsible for this cultural center, who clarify that this is due to the architect Antonio Flórez, who carried out the reform in 1925 and opted for this solution due to the impossibility of expanding the stage box horizontally, due to the urban layout of the center. history of Madrid.

In order to take advantage of all this vertical space, the Real adapted the spiral lift technology that aircraft carriers have to the stage, a solution that has subsequently been replicated by other top-level stages around the world.

This requires a millimeter calculation of the space when developing the montages, for which the left and right give their names, in order to avoid misunderstandings, to Felipe V or Carlos III, like the streets that surround the Real by their sides. There is neither in front nor behind here, but rather the Opera or the Palace, depending on whether you are pointing towards the Isabel II or Oriente squares.

A lot of surprises

Offstage, the Teatro Real continues to hold surprises beyond legendary secret passages, such as the numerous rooms for dancers – with rooms that have two types of interchangeable floors with different hardness depending on the type of dance being rehearsed – and orchestra – where even the lamps have panels that can absorb more or less sound at the whim of the conductor.

If the Altamira caves have an exact replica to preserve the originals, the Real stage also has a Staging Rehearsal Room with the same dimensions and a millimeter floor where the artists can move as they would on the stage while it is being performed. a hive of work to develop the complicated scenery that many of the operas it hosts require, in some cases even with flooded parts.

But if something stands out within these performing arts workshops, it is the tailoring and characterization units, a temple of detail with 60 people working continuously and up to 100 when a new opera is being launched.

A staff that works “morning, afternoon and night” and must be prepared to undertake profound changes in costumes or accessories “even on the day of the premiere,” explains the theater’s head of Characterization, Esther Dólera.

Wigs whose preparation can take up to eight days of work, handmade with human hair or yak hair if it is gray hair, as well as a clothing classification system typical of the Library of Alexandria.

Founded in 1818 by order of King Ferdinand VII, in 1997 it reopened its doors after a complex and pioneering architectural rehabilitation that turned its stage into a benchmark among its peers, both for its sophisticated theatrical technology and its functionality.