The Cervantes National Theatre in Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...

 is the national stage and comedy theatre of Argentina

Argentina

Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

.

History

The Cervantes Theatre of Buenos Aires owes its existence, in part, to the 1897 relocation to Argentina of Spanish theatre producer María Guerrero

María Guerrero

María Guerrero Torija was a prominent Spanish theatre actor, producer and director.-Life and work:María Guerrero Torija was born in Madrid, in 1867. She enrolled at the Official School of Declamation, in the prestigious Madrid Royal Conservatory, where she was trained in the theatre with dramatist...

 and her company, who popularized professional stage theatre in Argentina. A commercial success at the Teatro Odeón

Teatro Odeón

The Teatro Odeón was a theater in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It was built by Don Emilio Bieckert in the end of the 19th century. In July 1896, it hosted the first ever film screening in Argentina. It was demolished in 1991 in order to make space for the construction of a parking lot....

, her adaptations of classics in Spanish literature

Spanish literature

Spanish literature generally refers to literature written in the Spanish language within the territory that presently constitutes the state of Spain...

 took her to theatres nationwide. Following the opening of a number of large, ornate opera house

Opera house

An opera house is a theatre building used for opera performances that consists of a stage, an orchestra pit, audience seating, and backstage facilities for costumes and set building...

s and stage theatres in Argentina, Guerrero and her husband, Fernando Díaz de Mendoza, set aside a share of their fortune in 1918 for the creation of their own grand theatre house. The project caught the attention of both local high society and the King of Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

, Alfonso XIII, who collaborated with its construction by commissioning artisanal fixtures, material and elements of stagecraft

Stagecraft

Stagecraft is a generic term referring to the technical aspects of theatrical, film, and video production. It includes, but is not limited to, constructing and rigging scenery, hanging and focusing of lighting, design and procurement of costumes, makeup, procurement of props, stage management, and...

 for the theatre, built accordingly in Spanish baroque

Spanish Baroque

Spanish Baroque is a strand of Baroque architecture that evolved in Spain and its provinces and former colonies, notably Spanish America and Belgium....

 style and named in honor of Spain's legendary novelist and dramatist, Miguel de Cervantes

Miguel de Cervantes

Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra was a Spanish novelist, poet, and playwright. His magnum opus, Don Quixote, considered the first modern novel, is a classic of Western literature, and is regarded amongst the best works of fiction ever written...

.
The Cervantes Theatre was inaugurated on September 5, 1921, with a production of Lope de Vega

Lope de Vega

Félix Arturo Lope de Vega y Carpio was a Spanish playwright and poet. He was one of the key figures in the Spanish Golden Century Baroque literature...

's La dama boba (The Foolish Lady). The proliferation of theatres in Buenos Aires and the advent of the radio in Argentina soon eroded the Cervantes' audience base, however, and in 1926, the couple was forced to auction the institution. Lamenting this turn of events, National Music Conservatory Assistant Director Enrique García Velloso pesuaded President Marcelo Torcuato de Alvear

Marcelo Torcuato de Alvear

Máximo Marcelo Torcuato de Alvear Pacheco , better known as Marcelo T. de Alvear was an Argentine politician and President of Argentina from October 12, 1922 to October 12, 1928.-Biography:...

 (whose wife, Regina Pacini, had been an opera chanteuse and was an avid patroness of the arts), to create the National Stage Theatre at the ailing Cervantes. The theatre also became home of the National Comedy Theatre in 1933. A massive fire in 1961 nearly destroyed the Cervantes, a misfortune leading to the aging house's extensive modernization, including the construction of a 17-story annex. The main hall itself was rebuilt according to its original specifications and the renovated institution was reopened in 1968. Tireless advocacy on the part of Lito Cruz

Lito Cruz

Lito Cruz is a prominent Argentine stage director and motion picture actor.-Life and work:Lito was born Oscar Alberto Cruz in the working-class La Plata suburb of Berisso in 1941, and began performing in local theatres at the age of 15. Graduating from a La Plata secondary school, he continued to...

 (one of the best-known figures in Argentine cinema and theatre) led to Congressional passage of a National Theatre Law in 1997, providing yearly subsidies for the art and for the designation of the Cervantes itself as an official entity.

Overview

Located on Córdoba Avenue

Córdoba Avenue

Córdoba Avenue is one of the principal thoroughfares in Buenos Aires, Argentina.-History:Mayor Torcuato de Alvear, inspired by the urban redevelopment works in Paris at the hand of Baron Haussmann, drew up master plans for major boulevards, running east to west, every six blocks. During the 1880s,...

 and two blocks north of Buenos Aires' renowned opera house

Opera house

An opera house is a theatre building used for opera performances that consists of a stage, an orchestra pit, audience seating, and backstage facilities for costumes and set building...

, the Colón Theatre, the Cervantes houses three performance halls. The María Guerrero Salon is the theatre's main hall. Its 456 m² (4,900 ft²) stage features a 12 m (39 ft) rotating circular platform and can be extended by a further 2.7 m (9 ft). The Guerrero Salon can seat 860 spectators, including 512 in the galleries. A secondary hall, the Orestes Caviglia Salon, can seat 150 and is mostly reserved for chamber music

Chamber music

Chamber music is a form of classical music, written for a small group of instruments which traditionally could be accommodated in a palace chamber. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small number of performers with one performer to a part...

 concerts. The Luisa Vehíl Salon is a multipurpose room known for its extensive gold leaf

Gold leaf

right|thumb|250px|[[Burnishing]] gold leaf with an [[agate]] stone tool, during the water gilding processGold leaf is gold that has been hammered into extremely thin sheets and is often used for gilding. Gold leaf is available in a wide variety of karats and shades...

decor.

Teatro Cervantes