The Politeama Theater was a theater located in Viareggio active from 1869 to 2018.
History and description
The Politeama of Viareggio was born as a theater, with the name of Alhambra, in 1869, and is a wooden construction – rather precarious at the beginning, but then remodeled and strengthened – which was immediately renamed the horse by the Viareggios, passionate about the game of nicknames. of Troy.
At the beginning of the last century, after a change of ownership and following the observations of a special technical commission, the structure was demolished and rebuilt, still in wood, thus keeping the nickname, but changing the official name to Nuovo Politeama. The inauguration took place on 2 August 1902 with Come le folle by Giuseppe Giacosa staged by the company of Ermete Novelli.
In 1918 the Anonima Spettacoli management company was set up and subsequently the playwright Enrico Pea became managing director and director of the Politeama: works by Pea and works by Giacomo Puccini were thus represented in the theater next to the pier. Despite further renovation projects that were never carried out (1925, architect E. Pierazzi; 1930, architect A. Belluomini), the venue remained a Trojan horse until the outbreak of war.
Hit by a bomb and partially destroyed, it was rebuilt in 1947, this time in reinforced concrete. With a final intervention in the summer of 2000, the room was further restructured and the seats, coverings and lights in the room were adapted to the new technical and aesthetic standards.
In addition to hosting the theater season programmed by the municipal administration of Viareggio, the Politeama is a very comfortable cinema.
In 2018, the theater was definitively closed.
