The Gran Teatro de La Habana
The elevator operator tells you that beauty of living room is the Alejo Carpentier Hall; the custodian has counted for delivery the marble slabs; the receptionist registers you in a book, whoever you are ... There are builders who retrace the basement of the old Tacón theater shouting, and risky painters who strive for the Galician shield and soldering technicians welding large sticks on the stage where we cheer Alicia Alonso so many times when at international festivals she comes to greet with all the generations of the National Ballet of Cuba.
Here there is painting, polishing there, and math: the Gran Teatro de La Habana (GTH), the García Lorca, one and all at once, is now a giant hive about to explode. The most significant investment of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Cuba is about to astonish the world. And it has been almost in silent, as the ones who know how to love have to do it.
When the doors of the Gran Teatro de La Habana open, formerly named Tacon and National Theatre, today named García Lorca in emotional tribute to the Spanish poet, and the eyes of the world can enjoy the splendor of an unparalleled restoration then will be appreciated in all its magnitude the feat of many of these anonymous men for the news agencies.
Jumps and turns of a work
(Leonardo Tur, director of the Gran Teatro de La Habana).
It was a very tense moment when the first figures of the National Ballet of Cuba came to try out the stage because the remodeling of it is part of the capital investment, and as very old wood columns had been replaced, we fear to lose their properties. They had not seen that either and were highly impressed.
The work stopped. Builders, investors, everyone looking at that light girl, who was doing some impressive jumps on stage. She turned, looked, with her partner in the scene, and only us as public in expectation. Until Viengsay Valdes said it was fine, and we all breathed and smiled. It is a beautiful memory.
We did a tour of the restoration, and did not know who was more excited. There are pictures of that moment: when we took them to the rehearsal room of the accompanying orchestra, which does such a singular work; when they saw the details of the facade from the inside.
When restorers rose for the first time, the towers were in danger of collapse. And there was a need to do a strengthening of the structures of the four domes that make up the building and were very damaged, which a man standing barely fit; a very difficult task.
We do not imagine that this investment would become so comprehensive. We started making huge efforts to stop the deterioration of the building in some areas, especially on stage. Installation on the entire block is around sixteen thousand square meters. And then it began the requirement to cover the entire facility, from the basement to the roof, of the Carpentier to Lorca. It covered all the technological part and the general climate for the entire now modern building, of cold water, of the most efficient.
A very important aspect for the GTH is the recovery of the three levels of backstage. Before it was a theater of many limitations, without comfort, even with the minimum conditions necessary as the bathroom for each of them. Among others, we have recovered the fire system, with the support of third parties such as Sepsa and Ecometal in the case of elevators.
What has impressed me most is the rescue of the original lobby, as envisaged, which was covered in half by mail. The two walls that divided it were withdrawn and murals were moved. Even the cabaret was removed and spaces that will be incorporated into the main room were recovered. The lounges of Centro Gallego are returning to their original beauty: the marble stairs, ceilings, all restored.
Curtain, lights and more
(Antonio Sixto Saavedra, director of Tecnoescena).
We have used the experience of mounting all theaters of the country to the challenge of achieving the highest quality within the means at our disposal. We already had in the Martí Theatre to reconcile very modern technical building systems with one degree of protection. And now is the Gran Teatro de La Habana, much larger, complex, and with a magnificent architecture, from the lobby to the front. It is the work logo of Ministry of Culture, to which we belong.
We entered for the first time to the Garcia Lorca mid-2014, with minor work. Today we face mounting of specialized audio and lighting systems, scenic mechanics, all which are crucial to maintain the acoustics of the Grand Theatre.
First, the new stage up to the cleats, the warming room, the rehearsal salon for the orchestra; we have put carpet and new seats in paradise and bull session, and began to put on each floor up to the audience. We will manufacture the curtains in our workshops, excluding the stage curtain and the harlequin.
We have laid cables and conduits of specialized audio and lighting systems, all of them new, and we are in the process of assembling records and connectors for connecting these devices, which determine the quality of the show.
The audio and lights systems have been acquired from developed countries. In audio, the colors of the equipment will be the same as the walls, so it is not an iron standard in a corner and integrate with harmony. The actors will be able to use a different microphone, the most modern, different types in accordance with the requirements of the work.
In the case of lights, this is a very modern system, from the elite factories, and equipment was conceived with more than four points of light, with a capacity in the dimmers to continue installing equipment in line with the requirements of the best ballet companies and compete with any other scenario with intelligent lights. It is a huge investment in terms of this type of equipment.
Our employees are very committed and motivated. So every time a work object is completed we encourage the ones who worked harder. We aim to serve countries members of the Alba, because it is a nojaut, because they are teams, brigade’s specialties, with a coordinator, who have overcome their pace of work and the quality of it.
