Teatro La Perla

Teatro La Perla
La Perla

Teatro La Perla
Location Calle Mayor Cantera and Calle Cristina (NE corner)
Ponce, Puerto Rico
Coordinates 18°00′43″N 66°36′43″W / 18.01200°N 66.61198°W
Owner Autonomous Municipality of Ponce
Type Indoor theater
Seating type Velvet seats
Capacity 1,047
Construction
Broke ground 1860
Built 1860-1864
Opened 28 May 1864[1]
Closed 1918-1941 (earthquake)
2006-2008 (renovations)

Teatro La Perla is a historic theater in the city of Ponce, Puerto Rico. Inaugurated in 1864,[2] it is the second oldest theater of its kind in Puerto Rico,[3] but "the largest and most historic in the Spanish-speaking Caribbean."[4][5] The theater was named La Perla in honor of the Virgin of Montserrat (Spanish: La Virgen de Montserrat), known as "The Pearl of the Mediterranean."[6][7] It is located in barrio Tercero, in the Ponce Historic Zone.

Design

The theater was designed by Juan Bertoli Calderoni (an Italian resident of the city) in the 1860s and it bears a neoclassical structure with an impressive six-column entrance. The building was badly damaged by the 1918 earthquake. However, it was rebuilt in 1940 using the original plans and reopened in 1941 with better acoustics technology. It closed in 2006 for renovations and reopened on March 14, 2008.[8]

History

Teatro La Perla was built under the initiative of Francisco Parra Duperón and Pedro Garriga in May 1864.[9] It was inaugurated on 28 May 1864 with the play La campana de la Almudaina of the Majorcan writer Juan Palou y Coll by the theatrical company of Segarra & Argente.[10]

Teatro La Perla served as a stage not only to give life to the theatrical artistic culture in the region, but it also served as a place of assembly for those who were dedicated to the social issues in Ponce and in Puerto Rico as a whole. It served this function both at the end of the Spanish regime and in Puerto Rico’s early years as a United States territory.[11]

In 1901, Frenchman Eduardo Hervet showed the first silent film ever to be run in Puerto Rico in this theater.[12] The theater's first illumination technical director was Félix Juan Torres Ortiz.[13]

Capacity and museum

The theatre has a seating capacity of 1,047 and it is now a regular venue for concerts, opera, plays, and various civic and educational activities such as school graduations.[14] The lobby of the theater has a small museum dedicated to the history of the building and past shows.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Socorro Girón. Ponce, el teatro La Perla, y la campana de la Almudaina: Historia de Ponce desde sus comienzos hasta la segunda decada del siglo XX. Page 574. Ponce, Puerto Rico: Gobierno Municipal de Ponce. 1992. Impreso por Editora Corripio, C. por A. Santo Domingo, Republica Dominicana. LOC Catalog Number: 85-90989. Registration Number: TX-1-977-212.
  2. ↑ Ponce: La Capital del Sur de Puerto Rico Retrieved July 12, 2009.
  3. ↑ La Perla Theater. Puerto Rico Encyclopedia. Retrieved April 16, 2010.
  4. ↑ Teatro La Perla. Frommer's Puerto Rico. By Darwin Porter and Danforth Prince. Page 182. Retrieved April 25, 2010.
  5. ↑ Frommers. Ponce. Walking Tours.
  6. ↑ Government of the Municipality of Ponce. Ponce Walking Tour. At VisitPonce.com
  7. ↑ Government of the Municipality of Ponce. VisitPonce website > Disfrutalo > Ponce es para Ti > Paseo de Arte y Cultura> Teatro La Perla.
  8. ↑ Grand Inauguration for Ponce’s La Perla Theater. LetsGoToPonce: Insider's Guide to South Puerto Rico. Retrieved April 15, 2010.
  9. ↑ Acosta, Ivonne (September 29, 2008). "Teatro La Perla" (in Spanish). Fundación Puertorriqueña de las Humanidades. Retrieved March 16, 2011.
  10. ↑ Socorro Girón. Ponce, el teatro La Perla, y la campana de la Almudaina: Historia de Ponce desde sus comienzos hasta la segunda decada del siglo XX. Pages ix and 574. Ponce, Puerto Rico: Gobierno Municipal de Ponce. 1992. Impreso por Editora Corripio, C. por A. Santo Domingo, Republica Dominicana. LOC Catalog Number: 85-90989. Registration Number: TX-1-977-212.
  11. ↑ Functional Use of the Theater
  12. ↑ Historia del Cine en Puerto Rico
  13. ↑ Llega Festival de Teatro Luis Torres Nadal . Sandra Torres Guzmán. La Perla del Sur. Ponce, Puerto Rico. Year 32. Issue 1577. Page 24. 19 February 2014.
  14. ↑ Let's Go:Home > North America > Puerto Rico > Southeast > Ponce : Sights. Retrieved April 16, 2010.

External links

Coordinates: 18°00′44″N 66°36′43″W / 18.01222°N 66.61194°W