A century-old Spanish farce about mischief in the pharaoh’s court is coming back to Little Havana for one more night. Caro Events will present *La Corte de Faraón* at the Manuel Artime Theater on Sunday, September 20, at 5 p.m., reviving a production that sold out a week before its May opening and marked Miami’s first major staging of the zarzuela in more than two decades.
The May performance packed roughly 800 people into the theater, with the audience joining the chorus during the Babylonian song, according to the Miami Herald. That response is what pushed Caro Events to bring the show back, and organizers reportedly booked the theater nearly a year in advance to secure the date. Tickets for the September run range from $35 to $60, and more information is available by calling 305-967-9191.
General director Maylú Hernández, who also plays La Lota in the production, described the pull of live performance in comments to the paper: “The magic begins the moment you step onto the stage, the spotlight finds you and the audience is ready to be transported.” She added that the timing feels right for a comedy: “Life is very stressful right now, and comedy gives people a chance to step outside their worries for a while.” Hernández has called the production a celebration of mischievous humor, beautiful music and pure entertainment, per the same report.
A Zarzuela With a Rebellious History
*La Corte de Faraón* first premiered at Madrid’s Teatro Eslava in 1910, with music by Vicente Lleó and a libretto by Guillermo Perrín and Miguel de Palacios. The one-act zarzuela reimagines the biblical story of Joseph and Potiphar’s wife as a farce set in ancient Egypt, and it became one of the five longest-running zarzuelas in history, racking up more than 700 initial performances as a satirical parody of Verdi’s *Aida*, according to Zarzuela.net.
Its irreverent, erotic and anti-clerical humor got it banned under Francisco Franco’s censorship regime, and it wasn’t performed openly in Spain again until 1975, per the same source. The zarzuela’s cultural staying power crossed into film in 1985, when director José Luis García Sánchez adapted it into a Spanish comedy starring Ana Belén and Antonio Banderas, depicting a postwar acting troupe staging the zarzuela and being censored by Francoist authorities, according to Wikipedia.
Tenor José Luis Bahamonde Takes the Throne
Playing the Pharaoh is José Luis Bahamonde, a Cuban-trained tenor and graduate of Havana’s Instituto Superior de Arte who has worked in theater for five decades, the Herald reports. Bahamonde also served as a producer and director with Pro-Arte Grateli, the Miami company that for decades anchored the city’s zarzuela tradition. On playing comedy straight, he told the paper: “The key is to take the character seriously. The humor comes from the situation itself, not from the actor clowning around.”
Artistic director Manny Albelo, who has previously directed productions of *Cecilia Valdés* and *La Viuda Alegre*, is overseeing a September staging that revisits the stage movement, pacing and comic timing from the May run while preserving the original text. The show relies on pauses, interaction and natural delivery to land its jokes, according to the same report. This time around, the production includes four banners, 32 chorus costumes and more than 40 performers, with elaborate costumes, scenery and props inspired by ancient Egypt.
Filling a Void Left by Pro-Arte Grateli
Miami’s zarzuela tradition owes much of its history to Sociedad Pro-Arte Grateli, founded on June 28, 1967, by Cuban exiles Pili de la Rosa, Marta Pérez, Miguel de Grandy and Demetrio Menéndez to preserve traditional Spanish and Cuban lyric theater for the exile community, according to Diario Las Américas. The company presented zarzuela, operetta and musical theater, and co-founder Pili de la Rosa died in May of that year at age 92, per CubaNet. Pro-Arte Grateli helped keep zarzuela, opera and operetta on Miami stages, while independent efforts like Caro Events’ production continue the tradition.
A Theater Rooted in Little Havana’s History
The Manuel Artime Theater itself carries deep local significance. The property at 900 SW 1st St. was originally built as Riverside Baptist Church before the City of Miami purchased it in 1975 using Community Development Block Grant funds, according to the City of Miami. The city renamed the complex in 1982 to honor Dr. Manuel Artime Buesa, a prominent Cuban-American and former Brigade 2506 leader, and completed a $500,000 renovation of the large auditorium in 1990, establishing it as a hub for South Florida’s multi-ethnic arts groups.
Beyond the arts, the venue has hosted major political moments, including President Donald Trump’s June 2017 speech announcing rollbacks on U.S.-Cuba travel and business policies, as reported by Courthouse News Service. Today, the theater continues to host regular programming, with local company The Opera Atelier naming it one of its primary venues for the 2025–2026 season alongside the Miracle Theatre in Coral Gables and the Seminole Theatre in Homestead. Hoodline previously reported on the ballet festival also using the Manuel Artime stage during its 31st year, underscoring how the Little Havana venue keeps drawing a wide range of Hispanic performing arts back to its stage.
