Casa da Ópera (Municipal Theatre of Ouro Preto)
Opened in 1770, the oldest working theatre in the Americas, with three tiers of wooden boxes.
The Casa da Ópera de Vila Rica was built by the contractor João de Souza Lisboa and gave its first performance on 6 June 1770, which makes it the oldest theatre in continuous use in the Americas. It was put up during the height of the Minas Gerais gold boom, when Vila Rica, now Ouro Preto, was one of the wealthiest towns in the Portuguese empire. Women appeared on its stage in its opening season, unusual for the period. The building passed to the municipality in the twentieth century and is protected as part of the UNESCO-listed historic centre.
Behind plain stone walls and a simple triangular pediment lies a horseshoe auditorium of about three hundred places, with three tiers of wooden boxes, painted decoration and a shallow raked stage of the Portuguese baroque type. The theatre remains in working use for drama, chamber concerts, choral festivals and talks, and is a regular venue during Ouro Preto's winter festival. Outside performance times it is open for visits, when the boxes, the stage machinery and the painted ceiling can be seen.
Highlights
- The oldest theatre still in use anywhere in the Americas
- Horseshoe auditorium with three tiers of wooden boxes
- Portuguese baroque raked stage of about 300 places
- Within the UNESCO-listed historic centre of Ouro Preto
