User:Deliso mary/Kursaal Santalucia Theater

Kursaal Santalucia is a theatre near the center of Bari, Puglia.

The first years
The theatre was designed in 1924 by Orazio Santalucia, by commission of his own family and is characterized by late liberty style. The Santalucia family wanted to compete with the other theaters in the city by taking inspiration by north European kursaals.

In 1936 the theatre was rented by a fascist organization that changed its name into 'Dopolavoro delle Forze Civili', turning it from an elitist stage to amusement for the lower bourgeoisie.

In 1945 it changed its name into 'Cine Teatro Santalucia', continuing with the activity of cinema and theatre.

In 1950 it was officially named 'Kursaal Santalucia', dedicated to the screening of feature films.

In 1955, thanks to a major renovation to expand the hall from 700 to 1000 seats, the Kursaal partly returned to its former splendor, although it progressively lost its relevance until its first closure at the end of the 1970s.

The reconstruction
In 1981 it was purchased at auction, for 700 million lire, by the Fabris society of Antonio Buompastore, who in 1985 started a significant reconstruction under the direction of archistar Paolo Portoghese. The theatre was reopened on the 12 september 1991, shortly before the fire of Petruzzelli theatre. It was quite successful for 20 years, benefitting of the artistic direction of Gigi Proietti. In 2011, because of some problems with the fire stairs and financial difficulties of the owners there was a new stop and the consequent auctioning of the theatre.

The renewal
In 2021, after 10 years of shutdown and 2 years of reconstruction it was reopened to the public on the 24 of September on the occasion of the start of the Bari International Film Festival. The theatre launching event was the screening of the documentary Ennio: The Maestro by Giuseppe Tornatore about the life and career of soundtrack composer Ennio Morricone.

In 2022 it was chosen as the location of the award ceremony of the 74th edition of Prix Italia.

Bibliografia

 * ”Teatro Kursaal Santalucia – il miglio dei teatri di Bari” Editori Laterza (2021) - ISBN 9788858145258