Olympic Theatre
Orson Welles once said that the Olympic Theatre was the only place in Rome that reminded him about the atmosphere of Brodway's theatres. In an age when also in Italy different forms of show are less and less fixed in a rigorous gender classification, the Olympic Theatre has become the ideal container for various and stimulating shows, and it is considered to be the only theatre able to offer, in Rome, a big range of choices, ample and at the same time representative: from chamber music to the presentation of orchestras tours; from ballet dancing to the most expressive contemporary choreography; from classical songs to prose shows; from new forms of musical to operetta.
To the operetta is also linked to the birth of the Theatre during the end of the Thirties and the architecture of the hall, rather unusual for an italian theatre and and suitable for the different functions typical of some halls in New York, as Orson Wells had noticed: an architecture between the cabaret theatre and the cinema, created for music and musicals, not despising other possible uses and not privileging only one of them.
After the war the hall was used only as a cinema and it knew a period of decay that ended at the beginning of the Sixties, When the Roman Philharmonic Academy, obliged to leave the location of Eliseo Theatre, decided to use the Theatre as concert hall. At the beginning for the philharmonic society the removal was not painless; the Olympic Theatre was not considered as a traditional location for classical music concerts in Rome and the theatre audience was not used to go there anymore. Maintenance conditions were not good and the philharmonic society couldn't use the hall at will because it was just the lodger of the Italian Cinema Company (Ente Cinematografico Italiano). To promote the theatre it was decisive the cooperation of some great artists; the new hall of the philharmonic was inaugurated by Svjatoslav Richter and Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, two pianists that attracted a great audience and imposed the presence of a new space for music in Rome. The Philharmonic started restoration works that made the hall more comfortable. The concerts of the Philharmonic took turns with cinema, and the theatre continued to be used with this double function until the end of the Seventies when starting from the perspective of its end, the theatre was finally re-launched. With the failure of the Italian Cinema Company and of the real estate company that owned the building, the Olympic Theatre was deemed to be sold, with a good probability to be transformed in a garage or a supermarket. Adriana Panni proposed to transform the theatre in a joint-stock company that had the goal of buying the theatre, offering to the citizens the chance to buy its shares. From then on the theatre is the stable location of the Academy's concerts (the Academy ids the major shareholder of the "Olympic Theatre Company"), but it is also a full time theatre, with a rich program. The only criteria used to decide which kind of show can take place in the theatre is its quality, and the theatre has established a relationship of confidence with his audience. But during the last fifteen years the theatre has changed a lot: a lot of work has been done to make its stage more modern and functional, to conform the structures to the new safety rules, to improve the welcome of the audience thanks to a renovation of the entrance-hall and the creation of a bar, and also for the cure of the acoustics and the air-conditioning of the hall. Besides, the ticket services have been re-organized by a computerized system that reduces the queue. Finally we have to say that the Olympic Theatre has been the first theatre in Rome that has made possible an easy and comfortable access to handicapped people.
To the operetta is also linked to the birth of the Theatre during the end of the Thirties and the architecture of the hall, rather unusual for an italian theatre and and suitable for the different functions typical of some halls in New York, as Orson Wells had noticed: an architecture between the cabaret theatre and the cinema, created for music and musicals, not despising other possible uses and not privileging only one of them.
After the war the hall was used only as a cinema and it knew a period of decay that ended at the beginning of the Sixties, When the Roman Philharmonic Academy, obliged to leave the location of Eliseo Theatre, decided to use the Theatre as concert hall. At the beginning for the philharmonic society the removal was not painless; the Olympic Theatre was not considered as a traditional location for classical music concerts in Rome and the theatre audience was not used to go there anymore. Maintenance conditions were not good and the philharmonic society couldn't use the hall at will because it was just the lodger of the Italian Cinema Company (Ente Cinematografico Italiano). To promote the theatre it was decisive the cooperation of some great artists; the new hall of the philharmonic was inaugurated by Svjatoslav Richter and Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, two pianists that attracted a great audience and imposed the presence of a new space for music in Rome. The Philharmonic started restoration works that made the hall more comfortable. The concerts of the Philharmonic took turns with cinema, and the theatre continued to be used with this double function until the end of the Seventies when starting from the perspective of its end, the theatre was finally re-launched. With the failure of the Italian Cinema Company and of the real estate company that owned the building, the Olympic Theatre was deemed to be sold, with a good probability to be transformed in a garage or a supermarket. Adriana Panni proposed to transform the theatre in a joint-stock company that had the goal of buying the theatre, offering to the citizens the chance to buy its shares. From then on the theatre is the stable location of the Academy's concerts (the Academy ids the major shareholder of the "Olympic Theatre Company"), but it is also a full time theatre, with a rich program. The only criteria used to decide which kind of show can take place in the theatre is its quality, and the theatre has established a relationship of confidence with his audience. But during the last fifteen years the theatre has changed a lot: a lot of work has been done to make its stage more modern and functional, to conform the structures to the new safety rules, to improve the welcome of the audience thanks to a renovation of the entrance-hall and the creation of a bar, and also for the cure of the acoustics and the air-conditioning of the hall. Besides, the ticket services have been re-organized by a computerized system that reduces the queue. Finally we have to say that the Olympic Theatre has been the first theatre in Rome that has made possible an easy and comfortable access to handicapped people.
お問い合わせ
Via Flaminia, 520
00191 Roma
Tel. 06 33 40 616
Fax 06 33 40 626
Email: info@riverchateau.it
P.I. 07321381001
00191 Roma
Tel. 06 33 40 616
Fax 06 33 40 626
Email: info@riverchateau.it
P.I. 07321381001
