Madách Theater in Budapest Praised as Home to World-famous Musicals

The musical Les Misérables.

Georgi Markov, a former Bulgarian constitutional judge who lives in Hungary, impresses even Hungarian theater-goers with his knowledge of the theater scene in Hungary. His favorite is the Madách Theater, where he has accompanied many Bulgarian celebrities, writes Magyar Nemzet.

Budapest’s sights include the unique Parliament, the Fisherman’s Bastion, churches, fantastic bridges over the Danube, Margaret Island, the Hungarian State Opera House, which is one of the ten most beautiful in the world, the famous Gellért and Széchenyi baths, the Sziget Festival, noted Georgi Markov, a former Bulgarian constitutional judge living in Hungary. In an article published recently in the Bulgarian magazine Teatar and the news portal Pik, the author pointed out that there is another Budapest attraction worth visiting, namely the Madách Theater.

He emphasized that

the theater hosts performances of a standard that is unique in the musical genre.

He stressed that the theater is often visited by Bulgarian tourists who, without exception, are impressed by the performances and exclaim: “These are the kings of musicals!”. He highlighted that the theater is also popular among other nations.

According to Markov, it became really popular in 1983, when it staged Cats on March 25, and Andrew Llyod Webber himself appeared at the premiere, accompanied by singer Sarah Brightman.

The cast of Cats. Photo via Facebook/Madách Színház

The play has been performed for more than 40 years, with over 1,600 performances and is still going strong. “I can still remember, during the socialist era, buses from Vienna coming to the Budapest premiere, just two years after the London premiere,” he recalled.

Markov also noted that Webber had offered the play Cats to the then and current director of the theater, Tamás Szirtes, at a meeting in Vienna. “This production will do more against communism than an entire NATO army,” he quoted Webber’s words. He asked for just USD 5,000 for the play.

Tamás Szirtes. Photo via Facebook/Madách Színház

A similar deal was struck to bring The Phantom of the Opera to the Madách Theater, which Webber and Tamás Szirtes agreed to do at the Gillian Lynne Theater in London. The play was first performed in 2003, and the composer attended the premiere. At that time Andrea Mahó was cast as Christine.

The Phantom of the Opera has since been staged over 900 times.

Later on, Mamma Mia! also became famous all over the world, and the Madách Theater hosted hundreds of performances. Markov said that his favorites include Enikő Muri, Nikolett Gallusz, Réka Koós and Sándor Sasvári.

In his article, the author also highlighted Les Misérables. “After the performance, a friend asked me if we had been to the cinema,” he recalled. Finally, he wrote about the play Pretty Woman, highlighting the performances of Ádám Solti, Viktor Pósa, László Sánta, Éva Sári and three Hungarian actresses who played the role of Vivian, including Petra Gubik.

The building of the theater. Photo via Facebook/Madách Színház

In addition to working with excellent actors, Markov underlined that the theater excels in terms of choreography and technical equipment. He mentioned that “the balcony hall seats 850 people, with a wonderful café where you can eat the famous theater pretzels while drinking Tokaj wines and Unicum.”

Margaret Island Theater Stages Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Iconic Musical