OCESA Teatro is a division of Grupo CIE. It is dedicated to produce and promote theater, especially in Mexico City, being the largest producer in Mexico and Latin America.
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The theater division of OCESA, part of Grupo CIE (Corporación Interamericana de Entretenimiento), was created in 1997 for the production of stage plays and musicals. The first play produced was Confesiones de Mujeres de 30 and later Disney's Beauty and the Beast. Both plays became a great success and so did OCESA's Theater division. Moving from the Orfeon Theater where Beauty and the Beast was playing, the company was seeking to build or buy their own theaters for large format musicals. In 1999 RENT and The Phantom Of The Opera were simultaneously played at the newly rebuilt Alameda Theaters. In 2000, Telmex bought both theaters to become part of the Centro Cultural Telmex (Telmex Cultural Center) which consists of two theaters, with capacity of 2,254 for Theatre 1 and 1,200 seats for Theatre 2, an art gallery and a small shopping center. An agreement was signed between Telmex and OCESA to let OCESA operate the theaters and present exclusively OCESA productions. OCESA Teatro is nowadays, the biggest producer of dramatic and musical theater in Latin America; producing each year at least two Broadway-style shows and two or three plays. It is associated with companies in Buenos Aires, Sao Paulo, Madrid, Barcelona and Portugal to help them reduce costs and risks linked with big budget productions and to share them copyrights, music, adaptations, sets or even cast members among the associates.[1] Most productions include well known actors from other media but specially those popularized by television. Their shows are characterized for having very high standards of quality and competition is almost nonexistent.
| Musical | Opening Date | Closing Date | Performances | Spectators | Theater | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beauty and the Beast | May 1997 | June 1998 | 420 | 650,000 | Orfeon Theatre | |
| RENT | June 1999 | January 2000 | 220 | 120,000 | Alameda Theatre 2 | |
| The Phantom of the Opera | December 1999 | January 2001 | 400 | 550,000 | Alameda Theatre 1 | The most expensive of all productions to date. |
| Man of la Mancha | April 2000 | August 2001 | 443 | 220,000 | Centro Cultural Telmex Theatre 2 | The scenery was completely different from that on Broadway. |
| Jesus Christ Superstar | March 2001 | December 2001 | 230 | 130,000 | Centro Cultural Telmex Theatre 1 | |
| Chicago | October 2001 | September 2002 | 329 | 250,000 | Centro Cultural Telmex Theatre 2 | Bianca Marroquin (Roxie) was invited to do her crossover from Mexico to Broadway in the same leading role for three different seasons, last one with Rap-singer Usher and toured USA and Canada for about three years with Chicago in the same leading role, Roxie Hart. |
| The Full Monty | March 2002 | June 2002 | 130 | 70,000 | Centro Cultural Telmex Theatre 1 | |
| Les Misérables | November 2002 | August 2004 | 711 | 850,000 | Centro Cultural Telmex Theatre 1 | Second longest running musical in this decade in Mexico (Recently surpassed by 'Mentiras, el musical, which opened in 2009). |
| Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat | April 2004 | May 2005 | 440 | 300,000 | Centro Cultural Telmex Theatre 2 | The translation and scenery were completely different from a previous Mexican production due to a struggle to get the rights from the play. The only production in which Joseph flies. |
| Fiddler on the Roof | November 2004 | March 2006 | 503 | 600,000 | Centro Cultural Telmex Theatre 1 | |
| Bésame Mucho | July 2005 | October 2006 | 512 | 350,000 | Centro Cultural Telmex Theatre 2 | OCESA's First Original Production, based on popular Mexican and Cuban boleros. |
| Selena el Musical | May 2006 | August 2006 | 100 | 80,000 | Blanquita Theatre | OCESA's Second Original Production. |
| Hoy No Me Puedo Levantar | May 2006 | July 2007 | 425 | 500,000 | Centro Cultural Telmex Theatre 1 | |
| The Producers | December 2006 | October 2007 | 360 | 139,500 | Centro Cultural Telmex Theatre 2 | Produced in association with Music Theater International (MTI). |
| Beauty and the Beast (revival) | September 2007 | September 2008 | 414 | 600,000 | Centro Cultural Telmex Theatre 1 | This musical revival is the celebration of OCESA Teatro's 10th Anniversary. |
| Sweet Charity | November 2008 | May 2009 | 198 | 200,000 | Centro Cultural Telmex Theatre 1 | The translation and scenery are complete different from other productions to be more fittable to Mexican audience. |
| Mentiras el musical | February 2009 | México Theatre | OCESA's Third Original Production. Based on popular 80's Mexican pop songs. | |||
| Mamma Mia! | July 2009 | August 2010 | 400 | 400,000 | Centro Cultural Telmex Theatre 1 | |
| A Chorus Line | November 2010 | May 2011 | 234 | 192,723 | Centro Cultural Telmex Theatre 1 | |
| Peter Pan | July 2011 | Centro Cultural Telmex Theatre 1 | ||||
| Si Nos Dejan | August 2011 | Centro Cultural Telmex Theatre 2 | OCESA's Fourth Original Production. Based on popular Mexican regional songs. |
OCESA Teatro has received complains for not offering an equal opportunity casting selection process in many of their productions. Several shows were criticized for casting famous figures in main roles, mostly actors made popular by television, only for their attraction power, even if their appearance notably miscast those roles. Also they have been criticized for creating a pool of main actors that continuously reappear in their shows, closing the doors to upcoming actors and becoming a tightly closed group. OCESA Teatro however considers itself the biggest promoter of new talent in Latin America.
Also OCESA Teatro has received complains about how the company strives to recreate exactly the Broadway experience in most of their shows, leaving little freedom of expression to local directors. OCESA Teatro has responded that this is due to copyright restrictions established in the contracts of the original plays; however, despite those directors' complains, the company's most successful shows are those who have been kept faithful to their original Broadway counterparts.