By IPS Correspondents
SANTIAGO, Nov 18 2003 (IPS)

The Santiago Municipal Theatre, Chile’s leading cultural venue and a jewel of the capital, was about to close its doors due to financial troubles, but has gotten a second chance with the national government’s decision to intervene.

“The closure of the Municipal Theatre would have been like the disappearance of the Santa Lucía Hill. It is one of the symbols of Santiago,” says Mario Zepeda, a 73-year-old retiree who has regularly attended symphony concerts at the central Santiago theatre since 1961.

The danger that the theatre would lower its curtain forever became especially acute in early October, when the employees demanded an eight percent increase in wages next year. The response from the Cultural Corporation of Santiago, which administers the theatre, was a resounding “no”.

The Cultural Corporation had built up a 3.1-million-dollar debt, the result of a continuous deficit problem, which was only partially offset by transfers of funds from the municipality of Santiago-Centro, which owns the theatre.

In August and September, the Cultural Corporation received 500,000 dollars monthly from the Santiago-Centro City Council. But Mayor Joaquín Lavín and the city council turned down a request for a new loan, for 750,000 dollars, in October.

Lavín, the head of the Independent Democratic Union (UDI) and the likely candidate of the right-wing opposition for the December 2005 presidential elections, was instructed by the majority of the city councillors to demand the resignation of the Cultural Corporation’s executive board.

But Andrés Rodríguez, the head of the board, received the staunch backing of other city councillors, who they credit for making the Municipal Theatre of Santiago “the most important theatre in Latin America” in his 21 years with the Cultural Corporation.

Under Rodríguez, the Cultural Corporation, modernised installations of the majestic old building, and put a greater emphasis on artistic innovations in the programme, whose main focus is its opera season.

In the past few years, although opera, classical ballet and symphony orchestra have remained the trademark of the theatre, it is becoming a venue for increasingly varied musical genres.

In 2002, appearing on stage was the famous Cuban ‘sonero’ Francisco Repilado, better known as the Buena Vista Social Club’s Compay Segundo, who died earlier this year. Previously, the Municipal hosted a series of sold-out concerts by Les Luthiers, an Argentine musical comedy group.

Mariano Mores and his tangos, several U.S. Gospel choirs, Joaquín Cortés and other flamenco dance troupes, and every imaginable type of modern dance have found their way to the Municipal Theatre’s main stage.

But the artistic positives have not been able to counter the financial negatives, despite the fact that the shows and concerts draw healthy attendance.

The economic troubles, which date back to the long strike by theatre workers in 2000, reached the breaking point, revealing an outdated management model.

Verónica González, the Cultural Corporation’s management and project director, called for a debate in which the parties involved “recognise reality… because the Municipal Theatre is a national, not just a municipal undertaking,” she said.

“We have to figure out what to do to maintain a cultural centre of this standing, so that people with fewer resources have access to international spectacles,” said González, an economist with a successful career in private sector management.

The theatre is property of the Santiago-Centro municipality, which is one of the 38 districts of the Metropolitan region. But in practice it provides services to the entire capital, not only with the shows on its stages, but also organising travelling events, with performances in other parts of the city, and also other regions of the country.

Members of its permanent roster of musicians, actors and singers often serve as Chile’s representation at international festivals and contests.

President Ricardo Lagos stepped into the fray on Nov. 6, proposing to resolve the theatre’s problems through new channels of financing, with contributions from the national government and from other municipalities.

“The crisis has been resolved definitively thanks to an agreement we reached with President Lagos, so that beginning in 2005 the venue will become a national theatre, with a different financing structure and in which the municipality of Santiago maintains a reasonable contribution,” said Mayor Lavín.

Minister of Culture José Weinstein said the central government is already financially supporting the theatre through measures such as tax exemptions on ticket sales. And the municipalities are also contributing a portion of revenues to a central fund.

But the minister said it is still necessary to seek other sources of funds, an effort that should involve other high-income districts of the Metropolitan region, such as Providencia, Vitacura and Las Condes.

The theatre building, considered one of Santiago’s architectural jewels, was built in the 19th century, under the watch of Charles Garnier, known for his work on the Paris Opera and the Casino of Montecarlo.

The theatre made its debut Sep. 17, 1857, with a performance of the Giuseppe Verdi opera “Ernani”. In 1870, it was destroyed by a fire, and then rebuilt according to the original plans. It was re-opened on Jul. 16, 1873, with another Verdi opera, “La forza del destino”.

The theatre’s main auditorium can hold an audience of 1,500 people. A smaller auditorium holds 250.

The building was declared a national monument in 1974 by a decree of the dictatorship led by Gen. Augusto Pinochet (1973-1990).

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