Heart Attack Inspired Antonio Banderas To Open Theatre Company In Spain

In a new interview on the Variety podcast, The Big Ticket with Marc Malkin, actor Antonio Banderas revealed how a serious heart attack resulted in his decision to start a new theatre company in his native country, Spain.

Of his 2017 malady and its aftermath, Banderas told Variety, "I came [to] the conclusion that I had to do the things that I want to do, that I don't want to die thinking, 'I should have done that or I should have said that,'" he tells the podcast, adding "When you get close to death, only the essential things remain. Things that you thought at some point that were very important, they disappear."

The Spain premiere of Michael Bennet's "A Chorus Line" was the inaugural title of Banderas' new theatre venture, Teatro del Soho CaixaBank, which also hosts a theatre school for over 600 students.

The production opened last month in the actors' hometown, Málaga, with runs planned for Bilbao, Barcelona, and Madrid. Banderas co-directs the production with actress Baayork Lee , who participated in the original Broadway production.

Banderas recently revealed that "conversations were already under way" for a potential New York run of the Spanish-language production.

Of his love of theatre, Banderas told Variety, "Movies became an enormous accident in my career, an accident of over 112 movies, but the thing that I fell in love with in my profession is the theater, seeing actors on the stage, a group of people just telling stories to another group of people,I just love that ritual. There was something there, very specific, very beautiful that has to do with civilization, with the possibility of these people reflecting in front of others about ourselves. You can make them laugh, you can make them cry, you can go to many different places."

Read the full story and hear the full podcast at Variety.

A Chorus Line runs from November 16 until January 19 at Teatro del Soho. For more information, visit https://www.achorusline.es/.