The Opera Strikes Back: Assembling Busquen al Tenor 2

Jun 13

A lost tenor. A luxury suite. A whole lot of screaming. Sound familiar? Well… we did it again.

Busquen al Tenor 2 was our first real sequel. And if you’ve ever tried making a second part to anything, you know it’s not just about being bigger - it has to be smarter, funnier, and somehow still make sense. The original Busquen al Tenor was a chaotic love letter to farce. This one felt like an entire opera.

New Plot. Same Hotel. Even More Drama.

We adapted Ken Ludwig’s brilliant follow-up A Comedy of Tenors and brought back the full madness: mistaken identities, slamming doors, jealous lovers, and a cast of opera singers barely holding it together. This time, the suite wasn’t in El Salvador - it was in Paris. And somehow, things got even more ridiculous (and sexual).

Musical numbers? Yes. Flying butlers inspired by Defying Gravity? Yup. Surprise wedding in the hotel room? Why not.

What made this great? You didn’t need to watch Part 1 to enjoy Part 2. The stories connect, but they also stand on their own.

Leveling Up

The set had to emulate a 5-star Parisian suite - elegant, theatrical, and far more detailed than its predecessor. We introduced a new, richer color palette to distinguish it visually from the first production and reflect the shift in location and tone. Multiple leveled platforms were built into the design, not just for aesthetic variety, but to assist with complex blocking and clearly define areas within the hotel suite - like the lounge, bedrooms, and hallways. This layered staging also allowed us to convert the same space into an opera stage mid-show: red curtains dropped from the rigging, furniture was whisked away, and the suite transformed before the audience’s eyes into a full concert hall.

The set was filled with furniture - heavy, solid pieces that helped define the space and rhythm of the farce. Chairs, couches, bedside tables… all carefully arranged to allow for chaos without getting in the way. One fun detail: the couch and cushions were the same ones from the first Busquen al Tenor, just reupholstered to match the new color palette. The phone? That iconic rotary has been with us since the beginning - one of those small, unglamorous props that ends up becoming part of the family. Layers of curtains added texture and elegance, softening the space and helping us shift tone from scene to scene.

The chandelier - used for a surprise twist at the end of Act II - added one last layer of absurd grandeur, crashing down right after a major character reveal.

We even brought back our flying system (last seen in Wendy & Peter Pan) to send the butler soaring-Zorro cape and all during our grand finale.

Maria Merelli (Majo Bustamante) before her grand entrance behind the curtains.

Timing Is Everything

A farce relies on rhythm - and doors. This time, having learned our lessons, we built better door frames. Literally. No more loose knobs or slamming failures - just sleek, magnetized tricks that held everything in place. The door handles were fake, the alignment was precise, and the chaos could unfold without the set falling apart.

To pull off the suite’s electrical failures with precision, we had to rewire all the practical lights in the set. Timing was everything - those blackouts had to land right on cue for the comedy to work. We ended up building two separate lighting systems: one for the stage lights, and one dedicated entirely to the practical fixtures: lamps, chandeliers, switches. This gave us full control to trigger flickers, full blackouts, or selective failures exactly when needed. It took time to set up, but once it worked, it added an extra layer of adrenaline to the scenes.

That’s What They Said

“No hay momento que no se ría y se disfrute. Definitivamente regresaría para una tercera.”
- Guille

“Lo resumo en una palabra: JOYA . Tienen que ir a verla.”
- Antonio Zelaya

“Se van a divertír como nunca, vale la pena cada minuto, hoy me cambió mi día.”
- Gustavo Reyes

Migue sharing notes with our cast before a performance.

Familiar Faces, New Surprises

The cast that made the first show so beloved returned stronger than ever: Paolo Salinas, Óscar Guardado, Majo Bustamante, Miguel Amador, and of course, the fan-favorite Bryan Lestrange as the hotel butler. We also welcomed new performers: Elizabeth Valdez, Henry Urbina, and Ily Barrías - who brought fresh energy and big laughs.

And yes - we featured a very sexy couch reveal. Two actors remained hidden under a blanket for more than 40 minutes before quietly springing into view - partly naked. There were no trap doors or clever stage tricks - just careful planning and a lot of patience.

We had to place them in position well before the audience entered the theatre, since the space was in-the-round and fully exposed from all angles. They had to stay completely still, silent, and focused through the first part of the show. When the moment finally arrived, the reveal worked exactly as intended - surprising, a little absurd, and just bold enough to lift the room.

Migue and the cast getting ready for a closed preview performance.

What It Meant

This show landed in our program at the right moment: as the final days of the pandemic wound down, people were craving for one last laugh.

What I valued most was the chance to revisit characters we’d created years ago - and guide them somewhere new. As a director, it mattered to me that every returning role had a fresh arc, something that deepened their story and reconnected them with the audience in a meaningful way. This sequel wasn’t just about bigger laughs. Beneath the chaos, there were emotional threads about family, ambition, legacy, and love. And shaping those layers is what made the comedy land with more weight.

A massive thank you to our incredible crew, co-producers Alex Miranda and Ale Martín, and every creative who stepped up to make this monster run. And a personal shoutout to Bryan Lestrange: I had to replace you in the final performance (last minute!) and the shoes were too big. You’re a genius. I was just trying to survive. This show was louder, crazier and surprisingly moving.