|
+ who we are + 2005 season + participation + teatro Avenida + home |
|
|
The Avenida Theater |
|
|
The building of the Teatro de la Avenida began in November 1906 and was completed in 1906. The theater was formally inaugurated on October 3 with The Unavenged Punishment by Lope de Vega. At the turn of the last century the Argentine economy was booming and so was the building of all kinds of private and public buildings, many theaters among them. The Avenida is located in what still is the area where the Spanish community is concentrated. It was not the only auditorium dedicated to the diffusion of Spanish culture, especially zarzuela, that very special brand of Iberian musical theater, the equivalent of operetta. There were several other theaters in the neighbourhood which also catered these works for than numerous community and the many locals who revelled in them. The Avenida and the nearby, older Liceo (built in 1876) are now the only survivors of that bygone era. Although the Avenida's activity began with prose theater, music soon followed, with an operatic production: Tosca , by Puccini, performed by one of the many Italian touring companies that visited Argentina at the time. But zarzuela was bound to appear, and it soon did, in 1909. The Avenida became its cathedral and, with ups and downs , it still is. In fact, with some exceptions, zarzuela was the genre most often staged in this theater. At the time of its opening it was at its zenith in Buenos Aires and performed in three, sometimes four different theaters and three times a day, every day of the year, including Christmas and Labor Day. The best Spanish singers and conductors, even top composers of the time visited Buenos Aires often. Especially the Avenida, which became the leading house where zarzuela was performed. But that was not the only genre to be enjoyed there. There were important prose theater productions, such as the world premiere of García Lorca’s The House of Bernarda Alba, which was attended by its author. Alberto Closas and the famous Mexican actress Ana María Montoya also headed their own companies on several seasons. Opera and operetta as well as musicals such as Cole Porter's Kiss Me, Kate alternated with zarzuela and many popular Spanish and Argentine singers, dancers and musicians were acclaimed in the Avenida: Antonio Gades, Lola Flores, Sara Montiel, La Chunga, Tita Merello, Hugo del Carril, Mariano Mores and others . In the 60's zarzuela activity began to wane and there were years in which it was totally absent from the billboard. It had a brief comeback in the 70's but all came to an abrupt halt when, on April 2, 1979, a fire in the bank next door spread to the theater and gutted it’s auditorium. It lay derelict for years but rebuilding finally was completed in 1994, when it was reinaugurated with a concert led by Plácido Domingo. Since then the Avenida's zarzuela shared the stage with other musical genres, especially reviews and shows by spanish singers and dancers and opera productions by various independent groups, which make this theater the second opera house in Buenos Aires. |
|