Hope from the backstage: Metropolitan Theater today | ABS-CBN
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Hope from the backstage: Metropolitan Theater today
Hope from the backstage: Metropolitan Theater today
JONATHAN CELLONA,
ABS-CBNNEWS.COM
Published Jun 17, 2015 02:15 PM PHT
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Updated Jan 18, 2021 02:17 PM PHT
There is hope for the Met.
There is hope for the Met.
Its walls have been languishing in dust and moss for far too long. They have become a shelter for plant outgrowth and cracked earth multiplied through the floors of the main hall, extending through the rooms in the backstage, all the way to the hallways.
Its walls have been languishing in dust and moss for far too long. They have become a shelter for plant outgrowth and cracked earth multiplied through the floors of the main hall, extending through the rooms in the backstage, all the way to the hallways.
It has all the trappings of a dilapidated building, the itinerant beggar who circles the city consistently stops here to sleep and rest on its stair steps as they try to avoid the elements. For them, the Manila Metropolitan Theater serves its noble purpose of shelter.
It has all the trappings of a dilapidated building, the itinerant beggar who circles the city consistently stops here to sleep and rest on its stair steps as they try to avoid the elements. For them, the Manila Metropolitan Theater serves its noble purpose of shelter.
But these days the Met doesn’t only shelter the few in its steps. It is also a shelter for the arts. For too long, seasons have caught up with the decay in the interior of the theater. But this building is too proud to give in to the ravages of time. When people walk by they see a building that can be. Residents of Manila will be glad to know that the National Center for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) has been given the go ahead to restore the theater to it’s former glory.
But these days the Met doesn’t only shelter the few in its steps. It is also a shelter for the arts. For too long, seasons have caught up with the decay in the interior of the theater. But this building is too proud to give in to the ravages of time. When people walk by they see a building that can be. Residents of Manila will be glad to know that the National Center for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) has been given the go ahead to restore the theater to it’s former glory.
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If we took a walk inside the shell of the Metropolitan Theater, one will see decay. But at the same time, we will also see signs of hope in the rooms that in the time past was part of the growth of the many artists and performers who passed through its doors, and walked through its aisles and bowed under the red theater curtains to the applause of an appreciative public.
If we took a walk inside the shell of the Metropolitan Theater, one will see decay. But at the same time, we will also see signs of hope in the rooms that in the time past was part of the growth of the many artists and performers who passed through its doors, and walked through its aisles and bowed under the red theater curtains to the applause of an appreciative public.
To the lovers of culture and the arts, and a generation of the public which grew up watching performances in this theater, the unmistakable Art Deco-style architecture mystique of this building speaks about restoration. Soon there will be an awakening.
To the lovers of culture and the arts, and a generation of the public which grew up watching performances in this theater, the unmistakable Art Deco-style architecture mystique of this building speaks about restoration. Soon there will be an awakening.
In May 2015, the Department of Budget and Management released P270 million from the National Endowment Fund for Culture and the Arts for the sale of the Met from its owner, the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS).
In May 2015, the Department of Budget and Management released P270 million from the National Endowment Fund for Culture and the Arts for the sale of the Met from its owner, the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS).
Early this month, the GSIS transferred the right of he Met to the NCCA to start the rehabilitation process of the Met.
Early this month, the GSIS transferred the right of he Met to the NCCA to start the rehabilitation process of the Met.
Till then, what you will see at present is a shell of what the Met used to be, its cobwebbed rooms and cracked concrete as well as the mangled ceilings. And yet there is hope. Hope that in a a little while longer, the theater will be restored, because of the help of groups who saw through it that the building would not go the way of the rubble but become truly the Philippines’ symbol of national pride in the performing arts.
Till then, what you will see at present is a shell of what the Met used to be, its cobwebbed rooms and cracked concrete as well as the mangled ceilings. And yet there is hope. Hope that in a a little while longer, the theater will be restored, because of the help of groups who saw through it that the building would not go the way of the rubble but become truly the Philippines’ symbol of national pride in the performing arts.
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