Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Classical Music, Opera & Ballet
El Centro de Bellas Artes Luis A Ferré
THEATER
(BellasArtes;
Click here
; 787-620-4444;
www.cba.gobierno.pr
;
AvPoncedeLeón,
Parada 22½, Santurce)
Built in 1981 in Santurce, this center has more than 1800 seats
in the festival hall, about 700 in the drama hall and 200 in the experimental theater. The
three concert halls fill when the Puerto Rican Symphony Orchestra holds one of its weekly
winter performances. International stars also perform here, and it's the major host to the
annual Festival Casals. In 2009, the complex completed the new 1300-seat Pablo Casals
Symphony Hall.
Theater
Teatro Tapia
THEATER
( 787-480-5000; Plaza de Colón, Old San Juan; tickets $10-30)
Something of a city
emblem, the Teatro Tapia on the south side of Plaza Colón is an intimate neoclassical theat-
er designed in the Italian style with three-tiered boxes and an elegantly decorated lobby.
Dating from 1832 and named after the so-called Father of Puerto Rican literature, Ale-
jandro Tapia y Rivera, the building has long acted as a nexus for the island's rich cultural
life and has hosted big names in opera, stage and ballet from around the world. The theater
was restored extensively in 1949 and then again in 1976, 1997 and 2007. Experts today rate
it as the oldest freestanding drama stage in the US and its territories.
The Tapia's contemporary performances are usually in Spanish and frequently feature
new works from Spain or Latin America. The acting is professional and performances at-
tract Puerto Rico's literati and social elite.
Cinemas
Movie theaters can be found in most of San Juan's major shopping centers. Check
www.caribbeancinemas.com
for most theaters and showtimes islandwide. Be sure to ask
someone you trust whether the movie house is in a safe area before you go wandering
around its locale after dark. The average cost of a cinema ticket is adult/child/senior $6.75/
4/4.
Fine Arts Café
CINEMA
