Must-see musicals in Buenos Aires’ theater scene

Starring German Tripel and Santiago Otero Ramos.

A delirious comedy about two “serious” —though rather scatterbrained— authors and composers who dream of making it big on Broadway. Their brilliant idea: to stage a musical about the life of Johannes Gutenberg, the inventor of the printing press. The problem? Their research is limited to a few quick Google searches. The result: a hilarious show that celebrates imagination, absurdity, and the desire to make theater at any cost.

Fun fact: This play by the creators of Beetlejuice: The Musical premiered off-Broadway in 2006 and, after great success, made it to Broadway with a new version in 2023.

Where: Paseo La Plaza. Tickets, here.

Starring Florencia Peña, Juan Ingaramo, and cast. Directed by Ricky Pashkus.

Vivian is a prostitute who meets Edward, a millionaire with whom she forms an immediate connection. After their first night, he offers her a significant sum of money to accompany him to various events. Vivian accepts and enters the exclusive world of the upper class, where she must face prejudices and difficult situations. Gradually, Edward changes, and together they experience events that will change their lives forever.

Fun fact: The musical is an adaptation of the hugely successful 90s film Pretty Woman starring Julia Roberts and Richard Gere.

Where: Teatro Astral. Tickets, here.

Starring Sol Montero, Brenda Bonotto.

A short musical play to the rhythm of tango and milonga about two Italian immigrant sisters who share everything: house, work, men, and the dream of being part of cinema history. While trying to climb the artistic ladder and make their mark in Buenos Aires’ 1937 theater scene, they also take responsibility for caring for their mother in her final days, showing that even an antagonistic duo can function as a unit.

Fun fact: This unique musical written by Brenda Bonotto premiered in 2024 at Teatro del Pueblo and has been playing to full houses ever since.

Where: Teatro del Pueblo. Tickets, here.

Starring: Maiamar Abrodos, Lucía Aduriz Bravo, Manuel di Francesco, Emiliano Figueredo, and Tomás Wicz. Directed by: Juanse Rauch.

Saraos Uranistas was the term used by the medical and police systems in the early 20th century to describe the nighttime parties where queer men and trans women of the time gathered. These gatherings provoked moral outrage in early 1900s society and were documented in archives that emphasized their supposedly depraved and deviant nature. This musical emerges from the wild idea of imagining an improbable historical encounter between a Buenos Aires trans woman and her friends with a member of the police medical corps, allowing fantasy to seep into historical narrative.

Fun fact: After two sold-out seasons at Nun Teatro, this acclaimed musical is now being staged at El Galpón de Guevara.

Where: El Galpón de Guevara. Tickets, here.

Starring Cristina Blanco, Gabriela Calzada, Vanesa Cardella, Ariel Cortina, Gisella Crimi, and ensemble. Directed by Francisco Civit.

A vibrant, overflowing, and tragic ensemble comedy inspired by Euripides’ The Bacchae. The play follows a group of women who meet at an underground bingo, and amid cards, confessions, and challenges, they discover in the game much more than chance: a space for resistance, community, and liberation.

Everything changes with the arrival of Dionisia, a figure as magnetic as she is disruptive, who drags them into a celebration where festivity becomes ritual and laughter, a challenge.

Fun fact: This musical comedy, which blends classical myth with everyday reality, features live music.

Where: Ítaca Complejo Teatral. Tickets, here.

Starring María Colloca, Carlos Ledrag, Florencia Craien, Mónica Driollet, Federico Justo, Victoria Páez. Directed by Cintia Miraglia.

A tango musical in a café-concert format that transports us to the 1920s and ’30s to relive the life of Ada Falcón, one of the greatest female voices in Argentine popular music. Between lights and shadows, the show traces her meteoric career and her secret romance with Francisco Canaro, in a journey where tangos become a living memory of “the Empress of Tango.”

Fun fact: The play, now in its seventh season, received five ACE Award nominations, seven Hugo Award nominations, and was declared of cultural interest.

Where: Hasta Trilce. Tickets, here.

Starring Marco Michienzi, Guadalupe Fiora, Christian Edelstein, Juan Manuel Besteiro, Marian Morelli, Flor, and ensemble. Directed by Nicolás Manasseri.

A young man undergoes an innovative method to erase his past and ease his suffering, but what begins as an attempt to forget transforms into a symbolic and dreamlike journey into the mind, where the search for calm also uncovers the enigma of the unknown that shapes us.

Fun fact: Author and director Nicolás Manasseri has previously worked on plays such as El Funeral de los Objetos, El Hambre, crónicas de una compañía trágica, and Juegos de Fábrica.

Where: Ítaca, Complejo Teatral. Tickets, here.