The theater was inaugurated on January 20, 1917, four days later than expected due to an embargo by São Paulo City Hall. It is the second oldest theater in the city; the first is the
Municipal Theater, which opened in 1911. Before its official inauguration, the venue was revered as an outstanding luxury center for entertainment and arts. It featured a
neoclassical style with
art nouveau inspiration, 28 front rows, 28 boxes and balconies with more than 100 seats.
Cinema After the 1920s, the theater functioned as a movie theater, offering occasional theatrical performances. In 1941, it closed and became exclusively part of the commercial circuit of cinemas owned by Empresas Reunidas, Metro G.M. and Serrador. In the 1960s, the auditorium was used as a storage area and parking lot. Several plays and musicals performed on the São Pedro stage, such as:
Marta Saré, by
Gianfrancesco Guarnieri and
Edu Lobo,
Morte e Vida Severina, by
João Cabral de Melo Neto and Chico Buarque,
Hair, by
James Rado,
Macunaima, by
Mário de Andrade,
Ópera do Malandro, by
Chico Buarque, and
Calabar, by Chico Buarque and
Rui Guerra (which premiered at São Pedro in 1980 after 7 years of censorship).
Isaac Karabtchevsky,
João Carlos Martins,
José Eduardo Martins, Gilberto Tinetti, Caio Pagano and Diogo Pacheco also performed in the theater.
An Enemy of the People, by
Henrik Ibsen, was the first production presented by São Pedro Produções Artísticas, a company led by Maurício and Beatriz Segall in partnership with Fernando Torres. In 1970, a second renovation occurred and the theater acquired new facilities. Besides the original hall with a 700-seat audience, Studio São Pedro, a smaller performance hall with seating for 200 people, opened. The inauguration took place with
A Longa Noite de Cristal, directed by Celso Nunes. In 1971, Fernando Torres ended his partnership with the Segall couple and moved to Rio de Janeiro with Fernanda Montenegro. In 2010, the
São Pedro Theater Orchestra (Orthesp) was established under the direction of conductor Roberto Duarte. In 2013, the São Pedro Theater Opera Academy was founded to train and educate young singers. Besides participating in operas, members of the academy perform in annual concerts. In 2015, the theater established a partnership with the
São Paulo Metro to present
flash mobs and exhibitions of the costumes used in
Falstaff by
Giuseppe Verdi. == Architecture ==