What do Jesus Christ Superstar and Othello have in common?

I've seen them both in Spanish!

What, did you think that just because I'm speaking a different language I'd go 5 months without seeing some theater?

I celebrated Easter Sunday by going to see Jesu Christo Superstar with some friends and had a blast. I absolutely love that musical and its soundtrack, so I was pumped to see it in Spanish. Apparently it's kind of a tradition here to put on around Easter, and you could tell because the crowd was really into it. Personally, I was on the edge of my seat the whole time, singing along (under my breath ... mostly) to all the songs in English. The lyrics were translated pretty literally, so there were often times I could sing all or part of a line in Spanish. Now I want the soundtrack in Spanish too.

The show was pretty similar to both the movie and live version I've seen in English, although there were elements distinct to Chile. For example, before the song 'Simon Zealotes,' there was a short scene of Jesus' followers taunting a guard and driving him off stage, which I've never seen before; I think it represents well the attitude that marginalized Chileans hold towards authority figures and especially embodiments of the government.

Then last Thursday I went to Othello with my host mom, host sister, and a family friend of theirs. I was nervous, because Shakespeare in English is quite the undertaking, and I've never seen or even read this work of his. However the show was really good - both in terms of technical elements and acting, and I understood nearly everything (much more than I thought I would). It definitely proved the point that acting is more than saying the lines, and that expression, posture, body language, etc. really go a long way in creating a character and relaying situations.

I don't have anything specific on the horizon right now in terms of seeing more theatre, but it will definitely happen - after all, I'm not even half way done with the semester!