Madrid Spain.- The Alhambra Theater, one of the most linked to Cuban dramaturgy and popular culture, was inaugurated on September 13, 1890.
Located on the corner of Consulado and Virtudes streets, in Centro Habana, despite being a one-story mansion owned by the Catalan émigré José Ross, it came to host the great actors of the moment on the Island, and became the place par excellence of the bufo genre.
Although, it is worth noting, that was not always the case. In the early years, José Ross was almost forced to close it, since the Albisu theater, located very close to it, took all the public.
After spending some ten opaque years, the famous librettist Federico Villoch rented the Alhambra who, together with a series of professionals, raised the theater with the incursion of the bufo genre.
Among the figures that passed through the Alhambra Theater was Henry Arredondo, one of the great actors theater and television in Cuba.
Villoch wrote around four hundred plays, including skits, operettas, parodies, revues and zarzuelas, some very popular such as “The Island of the Parrots”, “The Dance of the Millions”, “The Greek Republic”, “The Creole House” and “The rich landowner”.
In his scene the characters of the black boy, the Galician and the mulatto became anthological; and the combination of the excellent scenery, music and dance team made the place maintain its success for more than 30 years.
The Alhambra, where more than two thousand works were performed, became an exclusive theater for men, due to the language that was allowed, the social issues that were treated, the political satire and the sensuality of the chorus girls.
On February 18, 1935, when the place had fallen into decline due to the economic crisis and the appearance of sound films, the roof of the portico and part of the stalls collapsed. That day was the last function of the Alhambra, demolished a little later.
The history of the theater was immortalized in Cuban cinema with the popular film The Beauty of the Alhambradirected by Enrique Pineda Barnet and starring Beatriz Valdés, César Évora, Verónica Lynn and Ramoncito Veloz.
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