Look! Newly Restored Manila Metropolitan Theater Before Its 2021 Opening

A glimpse of the Metropolitan Theater before its 2021 opening.

IN PHOTOS: “Doors of the newly restored Met will be open to all Filipinos from all classes of our society. For this is the people's theater,” the National Commission for Culture and the Arts chairman Arsenio “Nick” Lizaso shared a glimpse of newly restored Metropolitan Theatre, which is set to inaugurate this 2021.

Feast your eyes on the revived beauty of the Met.

One of the many things the local art scene is looking forward this year is the opening of the Metropolitan Theater (Met). The National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), together with the City of Manila led by Mayor Francisco “Isko” Moreno Domagoso and other partners, has been tirelessly to bring back the theater to its former glory.

“The inauguration of the new Met is the culmination of a long arduous journey. This has been made possible by the determinated effort of a long line of individuals who share a common dream to bring back to life one of our nation's cultural treasures. We will strive to do our best to be worthy of this collective effort as well as the high expectations of our people,” the Commission’s chairman is honored that the realization of the dream to restore and rehabilitate the nation’s theater will happen under his watch. 

The Metropolitan Theater will house the quincentennial evening show on April 27, 2021 to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the Victory at Mactan, which will serve as the maiden show of MET after 25 years since its closure in 1996.

Currently, the NCCA and the City of Manila headed by Mayor Francisco “Isko” Moreno Domagoso is working on a partnership to celebrate the 450th anniversary of the city at the Metropolitan Theater this June 2021.  

In 2015, the NCCA purchased the Metropolitan Theater from the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) and started its rehabilitation and restoration, with the National Museum of the Philippines and the National Historical Commission of the Philippines providing the necessary technical expertise. Representatives from the Cultural Center of the Philippines were also consulted in the rehabilitation of the MET’s Main Theatre.

The NCCA, headed by its chairman Arsenio “Nick” Lizaso, executive director Al Ryan S. Alejandre, deputy executive director Marichu G. Tellano, and supervising officer for administration Bernan Joseph R. Corpuz, is the prime government agency that promotes and develops Philippine arts and culture. 

For more details, please contact Rene S. Napenas, Head, Public Affairs and Information Section through 09285081057 or email at ncca.paio@gmail.com

(📸 NCCA Public Affairs and Information Section/Paul Sugano)