Zarzuela is a Spanish lyric-dramatic genre that alternates between spoken and sung scenes, the latter incorporating operatic and popular songs, as well as dance. The etymology of the name is uncertain, but some propose it may derive from the name of a royal hunting lodge, the Palace of Zarzuela, near Madrid, where that type of entertainment was allegedly first presented to the court. The palace in turn was named after the brambles that grew there.
In Spain, music has a long history. It has played an important role in the development of Western music, and has greatly influenced Latin American music. Spanish music is often associated with traditional styles such as flamenco and classical guitar. While these forms of music are common, there are many different traditional musical and dance styles across the regions. For example, music from the north-west regions is heavily reliant on bagpipes, the jota is widespread in the centre and north of the country, and flamenco originated in the south. Spanish music played a notable part in the early developments of western classical music, from the 15th through the early 17th century. The breadth of musical innovation can be seen in composers like Tomás Luis de Victoria, styles like the zarzuela of Spanish opera, the ballet of Manuel de Falla, and the classical guitar music of Francisco Tárrega. Nowadays commercial pop music dominates.
Antonio Esteve Ródenas or Antonio Gades was a Spanish flamenco dancer and choreographer. He helped to popularise the art form on the international stage. He was born in Elda, Alicante, and was the father of actress María Esteve and singer Celia Flores, his daughters with his ex-partner Marisol, herself a popular actress and singer.
Pablo Sorozábal Mariezcurrena was a Spanish composer of zarzuelas, operas, symphonic works, and the popular romanza, "No puede ser".
Josefa Flores González, known professionally as Marisol or Pepa Flores, is a retired Spanish singer and actress who was an evolving icon in Spain since her first appearance in 1960 as a child star until her retreat from the spotlights in 1985.
Rita Aurelia Fulcida Montaner y Facenda, known as Rita Montaner, was a Cuban singer, pianist and actress. In Cuban parlance, she was a vedette, and was well known in Mexico City, Paris, Miami and New York, where she performed, filmed and recorded on numerous occasions. She was one of Cuba's most popular artists between the late 1920s and 1950s, renowned as Rita de Cuba. Though classically trained as a soprano for zarzuelas, her mark was made as a singer of Afro-Cuban salon songs including "The Peanut Vendor" and "Siboney".
Spanish opera is both the art of opera in Spain and opera in the Spanish language. Opera has existed in Spain since the mid-17th century.
Cuban musical theatre has its own distinctive style and history. From the 18th century to modern times, popular theatrical performances included music and often dance as well. Many composers and musicians had their careers launched in the theatres, and many compositions got their first airing on the stage. In addition to staging some European operas and operettas, Cuban composers gradually developed ideas which better suited their creole audience. Characters on stages began to include elements from Cuban life, and the music began to reflect a fusion between African and European contributions.
The Rumberas film was a film genre that flourished in Mexico, in the so-called Golden Age of Mexican cinema in the 1940s and 1950s. Its main stars were the so-called rumberas, dancers of Afro-Caribbean musical rhythms. The genre is a film curiosity, one of the most fascinating hybrids of the international cinema.
José Castel was a Spanish composer.
Blas de Laserna Nieva was a Spanish composer.
A vedette is the main female artist of a show derived from cabaret and its subcategories of revue, vaudeville, music hall or burlesque. The purpose of the vedette is to entertain and captivate the public. Vedettes are expected to sing, dance and act on stage. Particularly accomplished artistes are considered super vedettes or first vedettes. Vedettes often appear alongside groups of dancers, flashy and revealing costumes, magicians, comedians, jugglers, or even performing animals. Vedettes specializing in burlesque generally do striptease and may also perform nude on stage.
The cuplé was a popular risqué Spanish theatre song style in the late years of the 19th century. From 1893 to 1911 the songs were a feature of the "género ínfimo" cabaret theatre sung by solo female singers, or men in drag, and attended mainly by men. But in the second decade of the 20th century the cuplé, in a more respectable form, became more family-friendly and was associated with the makings of stars of the Spanish theatre such as Aurora Jauffret, "La Goya", and Lola Montes, who sang the cuplé El novio de la muerte, which, after adaptation, became the official hymn of the Spanish Legion.
Myrtle Watkins was an American-born Mexican dancer, jazz and Latin American music singer, and actress, who came to be known in the United States and Mexico as Paquita Zarate.
Francisco Lleroa y Salas was a Spanish classical opera singer (bass-baritone), one of the crucial figures in the revival of the zarzuela genre.
Raquel Daina Delas was a Spanish comedy actress and zarzuela performer during the first and second half of the 20th century in Spain and America. She was also a theatrical entrepreneur, vedette, actress and model.
Carmen Olmedo (1909-1985) was a Peruvian actress, dancer, songwriter and vedette who made a career in Argentina, Chile and Spain.
Egle Lucía Martínez Furque, best known as Egle Martin, was an Argentine singer and actress.
Rosita Rodrigo was a Spanish actress, vedette, dancer and songwriter, highly successful in Spain, Mexico, Cuba, and Argentina. Among her most popular songs are the Valencian zarzuela, "Les barraques" and "Muñequita de trapo". She was also linked to politics, such as her relationship with Alfonso XIII.
Teresa Juliana Lucía Maraval Torres was a Spanish tonadillera, cupletista, and actress who also made a career in Argentina. In Spain, she performed in the Teatre Principal, Teatro Romea, and Teatro Maravillas. In Argentina, she was a performer at the Odeon Theater, Teatro Splendid, Teatro Marconi, Teatro Avenida, Teatro Comedia, Teatro Empire, Teatro Nuevo, Teatro Nacional, and Teatro Florida/Galería Güemes. Her film debut occurred in 1929, in La del Soto del Parral.
