Culture of San Antonio - Performing Arts

Performing Arts

• The Alameda Theater is one of the last grand movie palaces built in the U.S. (opening in 1949) and was the largest theater in the U.S. dedicated to Spanish-language entertainment. The theater is often referred to as the "Latin Apollo Theater" and is known for the house's extensive black lighted murals. Today the theater, in association with the Smithsonian Institution and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, is the performing arts component of the National Center for Latino Arts and Culture, which was formally organized in 2001. Upon completion of the theater's renovation, it will be a state-of-the-art facility capable of housing performing arts mediums such as television and full Broadway productions, theater, opera, dance, concerts and film.
• The Lila Cockrell Theatre, opened in 1968, is a performing arts venue that hosts ballet, opera, theater and individual concert events. The building is on the banks of the River Walk, and being a part of the adjacent convention center it also hosts general assembly and multi-media presentation events. A unique feature of the building is the Juan O'Gorman mosaic mural located on the exterior facade entitled "Confluence of Civilizations in the Americas." The mural symbolizes the progress made by the confluence of civilizations in the Western Hemisphere starting with Adam and Eve in the center, with European civilization depicted to the right, and indigenous meso-American civilization to the left.
• The Majestic Theatre is home to the San Antonio Symphony, individual concerts and touring Broadway shows. The John Eberson-designed theater, which opened in 1929 as a grand movie palace, is well known for its Mediterranean-style architecture and twinkling starlit sky (complete with projected clouds that creep across the ceiling). The romantic ceiling and theater decor is amazing; it looks like a cross between a fairy tale castle and the Arabian Nights Entertainment. The theater is as a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark and was listed on the National Register of Historical Places in 1975.
• The Charline McCombs Empire Theatre, which opened in 1913, is the sister theater to the Majestic and plays host to smaller productions, banquets, cabaret, chamber orchestras and touring plays. An extensive renovation of the Empire was completed in 1989 and combined backstage areas with the adjacent Majestic allowing for more flexibility between the two venues. The Empire was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999.
• The Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center, was founded in 1980 as a nonprofit, multidisciplinary organization. Located at the heart of San Antonio's west side, the Guadalupe is the largest community-based, multi-disciplinary organization in the United States. Each year the Guadalupe prescents and producesa season of events, exhibitions and festivals, including the San Antonio Cinefestival, the Tejano Conjunto Festival en San Antonio, Hecho a Mano/Made by Hand, a season of plays by the resident youth theater company Groupo Animo, and productions featuring the Guadalupe Dance Company. Each of the six programs offer instuctional classes from creative writing to buton accordion and ballet folklorico instructions.
• San Antonio is home to The Crossmen Drum and Bugle Corps, a drum corps belonging to the Drum Corps International competition circuit. The Crossmen compete in the World Class division of DCI. San Antonio also hosts a major event of the DCI circuit, DCI Southwestern Championships, which is a major stop for most DCI World Class drum corps and many Open Class drum corps.