Teatro Gran Rex, Art Deco theater on Corrientes Avenue, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Teatro Gran Rex is a 3,262-seat theatre at Avenida Corrientes 857, its facade a plain rectangle of unpolished Roman travertine with a large glazed surface split by a thin beam held by bronze-clad iron tie rods. The asymmetrical auditorium, set obliquely to the street on an irregular plot, is a large shell divided into overlapping bands inspired by Radio City Music Hall, with seats on stalls, first balcony and second balcony.

Alberto Prebisch designed the building in the late 1930s after studying large American variety theaters of that era, including Radio City Music Hall in Manhattan. The hall opened its doors in 1937 as both a cinema and concert space and quickly became one of the most attended venues in Buenos Aires.

The theatre was immortalised in Joaquín Sabina's song "Dieguitos y Mafaldas", and its stage hosted six seasons of the Chiquititas live musicals from 1996 to 2001, selling over a million tickets. The name Rex, Latin for king, sits in raised capital letters on the travertine facade above the Corrientes Avenue entrance.

The entrances sit directly on Corrientes Avenue at number 857, surrounded by cafes and restaurants that stay open late into the night. Arriving early lets you explore the foyers and stairwells before the hall fills up.

A production based on the series Chiquititas sold around 240,000 tickets here during the winter of 1998, setting an attendance record that still serves as a benchmark for successful family shows in Argentina. Since then the hall regularly hosts large family musicals that run for weeks on end.