Nuevo Teatro Silvia Pinal

Photos courtesy of the Teatro Silvia Pinal Facebook page. 

The Nuevo Teatro Silvia Pinal is a historic theater and an important stage in the theater district of Colonia  Juárez. It’s the scene for some of the City’s most anticipated productions, musical theater performances, and plays that set the entire scene talking.

The historic building was opened by the Cinema Technicians Union  who showed movies in the auditorium. The union invited members and their families for bowling, billiards, social events, and casino games. They started construction on a big union hall in 1950 with the design of architect Gustavo M. Saavedra. The new and rather grand center was opened with much fanfare in 1952.

But the success of the union’s movie nights led to the building’s eventual conversion to theatrical use. The entire facility was converted to a cinema in 1953 and renamed the Cine Versalles. It was later formally reopened for the general public as the Teatro Versalle in 1956. The compelling stone relief sculptures flanking the entrance date from these years.

As the Golden Age of Cinema forced many movie theaters to close, in the 1970s the theater began presenting plays and theater works. This became the principle fare over the course of the next 20 years. The theater was re-named the Teatro Diego Rivera in 1991. That name would remain for the next 31 years.

But then the beloved film and stage actress Silvia Pinal purchased the property outright in the early 2020s.

• Silvia Pinal Hidalgo (b. 1931) is a Mexican actress and politician. Her film debut was in 1949, but she really became famous with a string of films directed by Luis Buñuel in the 1960s. A leading figure in both musical theater and television, she was immortalized by Diego Rivera in a portrait painted in 1957. Pinal is also remembered with a memorial statue in the Parque de los Venados.

Today the Nuevo Teatro Silvia Pinal boasts a magnificent Italian stage. Seating is just for 666 guests which is perhaps a maximum that could still be called “intimate.” The theater is, though.  Performances include many musical productions, shows for kids, with special matinee times, and productions that arrive from the best stages in the world.