Top Events this Thursday and Saturday on the island

Thursday, 8.30pm, Palma Auditorium, Paseo Marítimo 18, Palma. (Also Friday and Saturday, 6pm and 9.30pm; Sunday, 6pm.)

In 2011, Ghost, The Musical had its world premiere at the Manchester Opera House. Since then, it has been to the West End and to Broadway, while there have been tours in the States, Australia and South Korea, to name but three.

The book and lyrics for this musical adaptation of the film Ghost were by Bruce Joel Rubin, who had written the screenplay for the film. Other lyrics and music were by Dave Stewart, best known for Eurythmics with Annie Lennox, and Grammy award-winning songwriter and producer Glen Ballard.

Ghost, el Musical, the Spanish version comes to Palma this week. The role of Sam is shared by Mallorcan singer and TV presenter Ricky Merino and Spanish pop singer David Bustamente, while the role of Molly is played by Cristina Llorente, who is well known for her performances in musicals.

14-year-old piano prodigy

Thursday, 8pm, Teatre Principal, C. Riera 2, Palma.

Alexandra Dovgan was born in 2007. At the age of five she began to study the piano. Currently a student at the Moscow Central Music School of the Moscow Conservatory, she has won numerous prizes, such as the 2015 International Safonov Young Pianists Competition. She has taken part in various international festivals and toured overseas.

She joins the Balearic Symphony Orchestra this week as soloist for Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 2, Op. 21, which he composed when he was barely out of his teens.

The programme also includes the premiere of Simplicity by Mallorcan composer Joan Valent and Alexander Borodin’s Symphony No. 2. Proceeds from the concert will go to the Red Cross in Ukraine and to assisting refugees in Spain.

The night parties are back

Saturday, from 4pm; Sunday, from 10am, Andratx.

When night parties resume, it’s reasonable to conclude that the cancellations and then restrictions that have affected Mallorca’s fairs and fiestas over the past couple of years are mostly over. Andratx holds its spring fair this weekend, and there will be a party from 10pm to 2am with three acts on Saturday.

Otherwise, there are horses and other animals, artisan crafts and a great deal of food. On Saturday evening there is a tapas route and on Sunday it’s a day of gastronomy (an afternoon anyway). The town hall’s programme for the fair very usefully lists all establishments involved with the tapas route and the gastronomy day plus what they are offering and the prices.

Some of the tapas bars will be in a marquee in the Plaça Espanya and the gastronomy day bars and restaurants will be on the Passeig Son Mas.

Concert for peace

Saturday, 8pm, Arta Theatre, C. Ciutat 1, Arta.

The weather really hasn’t been very kind lately. Certain events have had to be postponed, one having been a big benefit concert for Ukraine in Andratx on Saturday. In Arta, they won’t have to worry about the weather as Cantam per al Pau (We Sing for Peace) is indoors. Various artists will be performing, including Arta tenor Antoni Lliteres and jazz guitarist Andreu Galmés.

Donations, ten euros; all proceeds to humanitarian initiatives in Ukraine.

Affection and the virtual Blue House

Saturday, 9.30pm, Plaça Espanya, Palma.

Cariño (Affection) are a female pop band who started out in 2018 after keyboardist and vocalist María Talaverano had started to write melodies and lyrics. They have since gone on to enjoy considerable success with songs such as Canción de Pop de Amor (Love Pop Song).

They cite as one of their influences La Casa Azul, a Spanish indie pop band who combine the qualities of sixties pop, The Beach Boys for example, with seventies disco-pop. When one says band, they are singer and producer Guille Milkyway and five virtual members - Clara, David, Oscar, Sergio and Virginia. Together in one form or another, La Casa Azul’s achievements include the national Goya award for best original song in 2010.

Cariño support La Casa Azul at one of this week’s rearranged concerts for Palma’s Sant Sebastià fiestas.

Beer and oranges

Calvia, Sunday, from 11am, Plaça Vila.

Soller, Saturday, from 10am, and Sunday, from 10am to 1pm, Plaça Constitució.

Calvia’s sheep and goat fair isn’t until the weekend of April 9/10. In advance of the fair, there is a craft beer event on Sunday. In Soller, beer may be less in evidence unless it’s made from oranges. There has been plenty of build-up, because of gastronomy days since March 18, and the oranges fair finally and actually takes place this coming weekend.
There will be, yes, more gastronomy, such as samplings of dishes on Saturday from 11.30am to 4pm. There will be live music on Saturday from 7pm - the ‘Nit Taronja’ - and over the two days stalls will include orange and citrus products and artisan crafts.