he São Pedro Theatre was opened on June 27th 1858. But its history began much earlier, when the little Opera House, by then almost closed, seemed to suggest the need for a larger space for art and culture in the Province of São Pedro. That larger space, donated to the population by the President of the Province, was "land in the main square, 100 palms across the front eastward towards the Rua do Ouvidor, and 200 palms in depth - or as many as there are until the wall - to be bounded to the north by the Rua do Cotovêlo, known as the Rua da Ponte, and to the south by the square itself".
Although work began at once, it was very soon interrupted by the Farroupilha Revolution, and started again after the pacification of Rio Grande by the Count of Caxias: "This city needs a public theatre, as the only one it was is too small and so badly built that it is bound to fall down soon".
The little D. Pedro II Theatre, in the Rua de Bragança, lasted until the time of its grandiose competitor, for construction of which the Assembly voted a loan of 16 contos de réis.
In fear of future responsibilities, the society entrusted with the work gave up, and offered the government the foundations, built before the Farroupilha Revolution, for 5 contos de réis.
The government tried, though in vain, to join private enterprise to public founds. Work did not proceed, and in 1854 it was suggested that a provisional theatre with a different name should be built elsewhere.
The Provincial Government, in opposition to the City Council, vetoed the idea of a new theatre, least of all a provisional one.
Work began once more in the Rua do Cotovêlo, and the new President, the Baron of Muritiba, conceded the proceeds from: "six lotteries, each for 6 contos de réis".
Construction of the São Pedro Theatre began on the main square, the Praça Principal, high up on a slope to the right. On the left was to be the Palace of Justice, designed by the same architect, Phillip von Normann. Even today the two buildings would make a good pair - if the Palace of Justice had not been demolished.
While construction of the São Pedro Theatre was going on, Phillip von Normann was the target of severe criticism from the press, in particular from the journalist José Cândido Gomes, of "O Mercantil". Gomes repeatedly affirmed that this "rash bricklayer" had made the mistake of conceiving the work "from the outside in, rather than from the inside out". He insisted on the waste of internal space and the debatable nature of the outside; absolutely indispensable parts had been sacrificed, including the stage "with the anguished dimensions of which not even a troupe of mountebanks could put on an adequate performance".
The large Theatre, the dream of so many, was at least opened by President Ângelo Moniz da Silva Ferraz, and a full house watched "Recordações da Mocidade" ("Memories of Youth"), played by the Companhia Ginásio Dramático Rio-Grandense. "... The town whose population barely amounted to 20,000 could hardly have demanded a better or more imposing theatre, nor did they. They were truly pleased, and they dressed in all their richest finery to receive this delightful present."
By 1958, the Theatre´s centenary year, the little town had become Porto Alegre, with half a million inhabitants. There were festivities, with the local Symphony Orchestra and operas performed by Argentine companies. The São Pedro Theatre was closed in 1972 and from 1975 on was largely rebuild, under the direction of Eva Sopher and the guidance of Carlos Antonio Mancuso and Antonio Carlos Castro. Restoration, like the original construction, lasted through the mandates of several governments; patient and meticulous, it gave back to the State capital one of its great causes of pride. On June 25th 1984, the Theatre celebrated 126 years of existence, with the Porto Alegre Symphony Orchestra, conductors Eleazar de Carvalho and Radamés Gnattali, and local puppet artists Cem Modos - Teatro de Bonecos. May the new curtain, with its (restored) tasseled fringe of French thread, never fall on the dreams and efforts of the people of Porto Alegre.