Authors of the Revues  
     
 

Although the theatrical revue is usually considered a lesser art in Madeira, the authors and protagonists, as well as the audiences, were part of what can be called the local elite, as has already been mentioned. Academics, soldiers, journalists and writers took part in the revues, which contributed to add some glamour and give greater importance to the revues in terms of representativeness in society.

In the case of revues, they were influenced mainly by some military musicians from the mainland who took part in the shows. As to the Spanish zarzuela, it is believed to have been brought by Spanish musicians who performed in Funchal in the in the early days of the Municipal Theatre (Esteireiro, 2008). Thus, in this period an extensive repertoire was produced with the intervention of musicians like Augusto Graça, Manuel Ribeiro, Dário Flores, Capitão Edmundo Conceição Lomelino and also the Freitas brothers. In the field of literature, there was a wider variety of authors, with special mention to Alberto Artur Sarmento, Adão Nunes and later Teodoro Silva. The poster shown below represents a caricature of three authors of revues.

 
 

 
 
Image 1 – Caricature of authors Edmundo Lomelino, Dário Flores and Pedro Gonçalves Preto
 
     
 

Hereunder, there is a biographical summary of the authors we consider more important in what concerns the production of theatrical revues in Madeira, such as Dário Florez, Manuel Ribeiro, Edmundo Conceição Lomelino, Gustavo Augusto Coelho and the Freitas brothers.

Salvador Dário Florez de Pando (Saragoça, 1879 – Funchal, 1951) was the composer and director of the orchestra in Funchal for about three decades. He directed concerts, orchestras and composed music for revues, genre in which he was one of the pioneer musicians in Madeira (Esteireiro, 2008).

In 1916 he staged the revue Miúdos (Kids) in the Municipal Theater, with music byDario Florez and lyrics by Pedro de Oliveira Castro. In the following year he composed the song for a new revue “Semilha e Alface” (Potato and Lettuce) with the lyrics by Adão Nunes. In addition to the works mentioned, Dário Florez composed two more revues: Água-vai, (Water Flowws) which was performed in 1922, also with lyrics by Adão Nunes and Ilha de Sonho (Dearm Island) which was performed in 1948. In the 1920s Dario Florez was appointed the first maestro of the Madeiran Great Orchestra for the composition of successive revues. (Esteireiro, 2008).

 
 
 
 
Image 2 – Banner of revue Miúdos, in the Theater of Funchal, in 1916
 
     
 

Another key influential personality was Manuel Ribeiro (Mirandela, c.1884 - Lisbon, 1949), a composer of revues and operettas between 1911 and 1917, during which he served as head of the Funchal Regimental Band and composed a large number of works, besides assuming the direction of several shows. Among the songs he composed during his stay in Madeira, the following deserve mention: the music score of the regional operetta, A Menina dos Bordados, (The lass of embroidery) with lyrics by the journalist Elmano Vieira; the revue A Madeira por Dentro (Inside Madeira) written by Elmano Vieira together with Júlio do Amaral; As furnas do Cavallu (The Caves of Cavallu); and o Hino do Diário da Madeira, (Madeira Newspaper Hymn). During his stay in Funchal, Manuel Ribeiro composed his first symphonic poems, some of which were very successful and were performed by the symphonic group Orchestra of Manuel Ribeiro, at the Teatro Municipal do Funchal (Esteireiro, 2008).

After Manuel Ribeiro, another prominent name was Edmundo Conceição Lomelino (Funchal, 1886 - Funchal, 1962). Edmundo Lomelino was one of the main musical personalities of the Madeiran theatrical revue, having composed most of the revues performed in Funchal between 1930 and 1940. The revues composed by this author achieved great success in Funchal and many of the shows sold out at the Teatro Municipal. Among his many compositions, we highlight the following: Água benta (Holy water); A Primavera (Spring); A Madeira em festa (1938) (Madeira is Celebrating ; Carnaval (1939) (Carnaval); Bolas de sabão (1944) (Soap Bubbles) and Flores da Madeira, (Madeira Flowers) (Esteireiro, 2008).

Gustavo Augusto Coelho (Alcácer do Sal, 1890 - Funchal, 1965), was a reputable conductor of philharmonic bands, orchestras and choirs, as well as a prolific composer and transcriber of music. Gustavo Coelho was also Head of the Music Band of the Military Command of Madeira and he integrated the academic staff of the Academia de Música e Belas Artes of Madeira. In addition to the Artistic Philharmonic of Funchal, Gustavo Coelho left an imprint in the regional dramatic-musical production of the second quarter of the 20th century, with a presence in artistic and cultural societies for which he produced the music for a musical hall and variety show by Adão Nunes, presented by the Academia do Funchal, in the Teatro Municipal in 1929. He composed other pieces for music hall and variety shows, such as Olha para Isto (Look at this) written by Teodoro Silva and Calado Nunes and choreographed by Henrique Martins, performed five times at Teatro deVariedades in Lisbon, sponsored by of I.N.A.T.E.L.1 (Pinto, 2008).

In addition to the names mentioned above, "Os irmãos Freitas" (Freitas Brothers) also stood out in the field of the Madeiran revue. The three brothers - José (1914-1973), Rufino (1916-1986) and Mario (1920-1978) - played in many popular festivals, such as Carnival, St. John festivities, or Chá dançantes2 in the Ateneu or Quinta Vigia. The combination of instruments of the Madeiran popular tradition with the conventional ones of an urban musical culture, such as the piano, bass, viola, violin and flute, or in some cases the drums , arranged to meet the fashion of the time, resulted in an innovative sonority, of a more popular nature. His musical productions, whether edited on record or presented in the revue Rosário de Cantigas (A String of lyrics) were fundamental for the success and popularity reached among the society of Funchal. Aware of the success of these musicians, Valentim de Carvalho, went to Madeira, to record his music (Camacho, 2008).

 
     
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1 N.T: INATEL Foundation that develops leisure activities in the areas of social tourism, popular culture and amateur sports, with strong humanistic concerns and high quality standards.

2 N.T: An afternoon tea held in a saloon, with dance to the sound of an orchestra, very popular at that time among the elite of Funchal.

 
     
 
 
     
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  References  
     
  "A Escola Industrial", Re-nhau-nhau, 27 January 1940, Funchal, p. 5.
BASTOS, Antonio Sousa (1908), Diccionario do Theatro Portuguez, Lisbon, Imp. Libânio da Silva.
BERJEAUT, Simon (2005), Le théâtre de revista: un phénomène culturel portugais (1851 – 2005), Paris, L`Harmattan.
CAMACHO, Rui (2008), “Irmãos Freitas”, 50 Histórias de Músicos na Madeira, Paulo Esteireiro (coord.), Funchal, 500 Anos e Associação de Amigos do Gabinete Coordenador de Educação Artística.
CARITA, Rui e MELO, Luis (1988), 100 anos do Teatro Municipal Baltazar Dias: 11 de Março 1888-1988, Funchal, Câmara Municipal.
CLODE, Luiz Peter (1983), Registo bio-bibliográfico de Madeirenses: sécs XIX e XX, Funchal, Ed. Of Caixa económica do Funchal.
ESTEIREIRO, Paulo (2008), 50 Histórias de Músicos na Madeira, Funchal, 500 Anos e Associação de Amigos do Gabinete Coordenador de Educação Artística.
FERREIRA, Andrade (1860), Os melhoramentos materiais, comédia satyrica e fantasmagórica em 3 actos e 4 quadros, Lisbon, Typ. De Joaquim Germano de Sousa Neves.
"Festas de Carnaval", Diário de Notícias, 22 February 1922, Funchal, p.1.
"Música", Diário de Notícias, 16 April 1893, Funchal, p. 2.
PINTO, Rui Magno (2008), “Gustavo Coelho”, 50 Histórias de Músicos na Madeira, Paulo Esteireiro (coord.), Funchal, 500 Anos e Associação de Amigos do Gabinete Coordenador de Educação Artística.
REBELLO, Luiz Francisco (1984-1985), História do Teatro de Revista em Portugal, 2 vols, Lisboa, Publicações Dom Quixote.
SANTOS, Graça dos (2009), “Rir para enganar o olhar do censor”, Sinais de Cena, nº 12, December 2009, APCT – Associação Portuguesa de Críticos de Teatro, Lisboa, Húmus, 33-35.
"Teatro Arriaga", O Madeirense, 25 July 1918, Funchal, p. 3.
"Theatro Esperança – Sociedade Recreio Artistico", A Voz do Povo, 28 October 1869, Funchal, p. 4.
"Teatro Funchalense – A Madeira por dentro", Diário de Notícias, 1 June 1915, Funchal, p. 2.
"Teatro Funchalense – Miúdos". Diário de Notícias, 23 May 1916, Funchal, p. 2.