CubaPLUS Magazine

The America Variety Theater

By: Amanda Bedia
Oct 09, 2023
The America Variety Theater

A little more than 80 years after it was founded - on March 29, 1941 - the Theater of Varieties America continues to be one of the most notorious emblems of good art and architecture of the modern age in the Cuban capital, from its privileged location on the famous Galiano Avenue, between Neptuno and Concordia.

The America Variety TheaterFrom the institutional point of view, those who know consider it as an authentic temple of varieties and great musical shows, with a tradition and workmanship that have never dropped in level, on the contrary, every time it is better, if possible. Important exponents of art from our country and the world have passed with gallantry by its setting.

When it opened its doors, it was valued as the most luxurious theater, and it was not less, since it was located within a very well-conceived supported complex, also dedicated to the cinematographic offer, something that fascinated Havana.

Its architectural lines within the Art Deco style, austere and elegant, and its capacity for 1,775 spectators, turned in its early conversion into the favorite scene of the capital's residents. Not only dazzling and important figures gave it prestige, but at the same time, the quality and brilliance of its productions placed it among the finest in the world of musical genre and songs.

Everything has been done in the America: humor, dramas, comedies, varieties, musical magazines, dance and circus seasons, and great magazines or national and international assemblies have found there the best resonance. Cuban authors, musicians, performers and directors of large-format orchestras such as González Mántici, Gonzalo Roig, Ernesto Lecuona, Rodrigo Prats, Adolfo Guzmán, Julio Cuevas, Mario Ruiz Armengol, Luis Alcarás, Chucho Valdés, Juan Formell and Las Anacaonas are part of its history.

The America Variety TheaterAlso, singing stars of the continent and the world, among whom were Pedro Vargas, Pedro Infante, Rita Montaner, Moisés Simons, Ester Borja, Zoila Gálvez, Rosita Fornés, María de los Ángeles Santana, Lola Flores, Elena Burke, Benny Moré, Adalberto Álvarez, Josephine Baker, Alfredo Sadel and Bola de Nieve.

And we are unfair due to space, because the list of celebrities is longer. The status of Variety Theater, however, was recognized in 1991. Currently, in accordance with its tradition sustained against all odds, it assumes festivals, contests, and national and international events, celebrates dates, calls for scripts and courses, seminars and workshops, sponsors new values, promoting the creativity of musicals that are trying to regain their popularity.

Its management and professional team is very competent and experienced. It has always honored the magnificent facility it occupied since its birth, to which it is necessary to refer, since it is complex, whose first owner and promoter gave it its name, Antonio Rodríguez Vázquez, as a refined expression of Art Deco. Since its inauguration, it was quite a brilliant event in Havana and its history is still talked about with pride.

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