Teatro Isauro Martínez, Opera house in Torreón, Mexico
Teatro Isauro Martínez is a 700-seat theater in Torreón whose design mixes neo-Gothic, Byzantine and Moorish elements, based on photographs of the Missouri Theater in St. Joseph, Missouri. Spanish painter Salvador Tarazona decorated the interior, and the most elaborate piece is the ceiling panel of the auditorium.
The building was designed by Abel Blas Cortinas and opened to the public in March 1930. It served as both a theater and cinema in its early decades before converting to cinema-only operations in 1945.
The theatre bears the name of Isauro Martínez, the showman who had it built on the site of his Cine Imperio, destroyed by fire on 22 February 1927. Its ceiling panel, painted by the Spaniard Salvador Tarazona, is the most elaborate decorative piece in the hall. Since 1983 the venue has hosted the International Piano Festival of the North.
The building sits in the city center and is easy to locate and reach on foot. Visitors should check ahead for current programming to plan their visit during an event that interests them.
The 1927 fire at the Cine Imperio, also owned by Isauro Martínez, cleared the way for the theatre built on the same spot. In 1945 the venue passed to William Jenkins and became the Cine Martínez, and by 1973 it was used only occasionally. Students of the Universidad Autónoma de Coahuila campaigned against the 1975 demolition plan; the building joined the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes in 1979 and reopened as a theatre on 18 September 1982 with Ofelia Medina performing in a piece honouring Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz.
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