Teatro Municipal José de Castro Mendes, Municipal theater in São Paulo, Brazil.
Teatro Municipal José de Castro Mendes is Campinas's largest public theatre, in the Vila Industrial district. It occupies the adapted building of the former Cine Casablanca and has 760 seats facing an Italian-style stage: proscenium 15 m wide and 5.95 m high, a 14 m curtain opening, 14.90 m stage depth and 16 m fly loft. It is home to the Orquestra Sinfônica Municipal de Campinas.
The theatre opened in 1970, marking the centenary of the 1870 premiere of Antônio Carlos Gomes's opera Il Guarany at La Scala in Milan. It was adapted from the Cine Casablanca building in Vila Industrial, bought by the city after a group of local artists petitioned mayor Orestes Quércia. Closed in 2007, it reopened on 5 December 2012 with a facade by architect Otto Felix.
The theatre is named after José de Castro Mendes and is home to the Orquestra Sinfônica Municipal de Campinas. Its inaugural season in 1970 marked the centenary of the premiere of Antônio Carlos Gomes's opera Il Guarany at La Scala, where the Campinas tenor Cesar Antonio d'Ottaviano had created the role of Peri in 1870.
The theatre stands in Vila Industrial, Campinas, and is the seat of the Municipal Symphony Orchestra of Campinas. In 2014 the city expropriated a plot next to Praça Correia de Lemos to create a parking area for visitors, after years of complaints about the lack of parking near the building. The main access staircase, rebuilt in 1997, has a metal canopy with coloured glass as shelter from rain.
The theatre occupies the former Cine Casablanca building in Vila Industrial, adapted rather than purpose-built, so it lacks the acoustics of a true opera house. Its 1997 renovation added acoustic cladding, reopened the orchestra pit and installed a new marble foyer floor. The 2012 reopening facade was designed by architect Otto Felix.
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