The prehistory of Maipo: The “Scala” theater, in the same direction as via Esmeralda. Clarin archive photo
On 15 August 1922 the well-known Esmeralda theater, located in the homonymous via Buenos Aires at 443, ceased to be called so to be renamed Maipo. It was inaugurated on 7 May 1908 as the Teatro alla Scala.
100 years after that reopening, the Maipo is more relevant than ever, and celebrates its anniversary with one of the most successful and blockbuster works of the Buenos Aires program: the musical Come from afarwhich has just received 23 nominations for the Hugo Awards for musical theater, a record number in the history of awards.
For a long time the Maipo room was considered “The Cathedral of the Buenos Aires magazine”.
One hundred years of figures
According to the chronicles of the time, the “brand new” Maipo revolutionized the Argentineyes The newspapers of those days announced a week of festivities for the theater which would later be considered “the cathedral of the magazine Buenos Aires”. Every day of that week of August 1922, the theater experienced a party atmosphere.
To celebrate this rebirth as Maipo, on the same 15 August a theatrical film show was presented with the orchestra of maestro Carlos Macchiavelli and the premieres of Nati, the Bilbainita (Spanish dancer), the singer-songwriter Teresita Zaza and the national singer Mario Pardo.
Jorge Porcel, on the Maipo stage.
On November 21, 1928, the Maipo suffered the first fire during a show that had 300 spectators. Fortunately, there were no deaths.
Years later, more precisely on May 23, 1933, the popular hall saw the debut of the legendary Lola Membrives. At that time, the theater hosted great actors such as Pepe Arias, Libertad Lamarque, Pedro Quartucci, Juan Carlos Thorry and Florencio Parravicini.
“Pinti sings 40 years and Maipo turns 90”, one of the many successes.
The room has never lost its splendor, seeing figures of the stature of Sofía “La Negra” Bozán, Tita Merello, Nélida Roca, Niní Marshall, Nélida Lobato, Enrico PintiTato Bores, Carlos Perciavalle, Jorge Porcel, Alberto Olmedo, Moria Casán, Alfredo Barbieri, Reina Reech, Antonio Gasalla, Susana Giménez and Nacha Guevara.
In 1994 Lino Patalano arrives at the Maipo and brings dance stars such as Julio Bocca and Eleonora Cassano to the stage, or other great theater artists such as Alfredo Alcón, Norma Aleandro and Ricardo Darín, with theatrical successes that take them abroad.
Alfredo Barbieri, another of the characters in the history of Maipo.
Home of Broadway musicals
In 2016, led by Carla Calabrese and the production company The Stage Company, great Broadway shows such as Shrek Y The Curious Midnight Dog Incident.
Norma Aleandro, when she starred in the comedy “Masterclass” ten years ago.
This year he got the Come from Awaand, in addition to garnering rave reviews around the world, garnered seven Tony Award nominations, including one Grammy nomination in 2017 and four Olivier Awards in London in 2019. The Broadway show produced by The Stage Company was created by David Hein and Irene Sankoff and adds new features starting this week.
A moment from “Come From Away”, currently on the bill. Photo Gaby Machado
The show tells the true story of over 7,000 passengers from all over the world who unexpectedly landed in the town of Gander, on the island of Newfoundland, and of the people of this small Canadian town who welcomed them with the purest solidarity.
The show is the current theatrical success of the Maipo Theater and has just received 23 Hugo Award nominations for musical theater, including Best Musical, Best Complete Production (The Stage Company), Best General Director (Carla Calabrese), Best Female Lead (Mela Lenoir) and Best Male Performance (Edgardo Moreira).
POS
Source: Clarin