Spain to San Antonio: Hispanic Culture on Stage

The McNay commemorates the 300th anniversary of San Antonio with this exhibition that explores theatre’s fascination with the culture of San Antonio’s Spanish colonial founders.

Spain looms even larger on the stage than it does on the map. To commemorate the 300th anniversary of the McNay’s home city, established as Presidio San Antonio de Bexar in 1718, this exhibition explores theatre’s fascination with the culture of San Antonio’s Spanish colonial founders.

The Spanish port city of Seville, from which conquistadors, missionaries, and colonists set sail for the Americas, has contributed such memorable characters as Mozart’s womanizing nobleman Don Giovanni and Georges Bizet’s fiery cigarette maker Carmen. The meeting place of Arab, Romani (Gypsy), and Castilian cultures, Seville also inspired flamenco sequences in Manuel de Falla’s La Vida Breve and Maurice Ravel’s Boléro.

These and other operas, ballets, and revues are brought to life in a vibrant, music-filled exhibition. Drawings and prints from the McNay’s collection are presented along with actual stage costumes in an interactive environment. Imposing church façades and a welcoming taberna and patio evoke Seville, and attest to San Antonio’s beginnings as an outpost of New Spain.