Historic Downtown

---

Teatro Carmen

A Personification of the Ebb and Flow of Tucson’s Vitality

by Jamie Manser

hat looks like a small adobe structure on the north end of Barrio Viejo (380 S. Meyer Ave.) belies a large building which was lauded as a grand epicenter of Tucson’s Hispanic culture in the early 20th century.

The namesake of founder Carmen Soto de Vásquez, Teatro Carmen was designed and built by Manuel Flores in Sonoran-mission style and opened May 20, 1915 with the play “Cerebro y Corazon.”

In Thomas E. Sheridan’s book, “Los Tucsonenses: The Mexican Community in Tucson, 1854-1941,” he writes, “When Teatro Carmen opened…its ample stage, excellent lighting, ornate decorations and 1,400-person seating capacity made it the largest and most elegant theater in town.”

One of several Hispanic theatres, its location on South Meyer Avenue situated it in the hub of small Mexican-American businesses and homes in the early 20th century on a busy street that once went through to Broadway. The theatre’s international, Spanish-only entertainment drew the crème of Mexican-American society.

Soto de Vásquez, herself born into a prominent family, was given the property by husband and business-owner Ramón Vásquez in 1914. Carmen was in her early 50s when the theatre was completed and managed it through the heydays.

From 1915 to 1922, the stage of the sophisticated space was graced by professional touring companies from Mexico and Europe whose performances included plays, operas, musicals, and variety shows.

But by the early 20s, Teatro Carmen and other venues began to feel a financial squeeze as audiences eschewed live productions for moving pictures and boxing matches. In order to keep the doors open, theatres had to offer those forms of entertainment along with their higher-end repertoire.

By May 1922, Teatro Carmen had seen its final staged performance. The last four years Soto de Vásquez owned the property, it became a dance hall and, subsequently, a boxing ring.

The venue was sold in 1926 and was turned into a garage a year later. While a garage, a large brick addition was built to the south, at 384 S. 4th Ave.

Ten years down the road in 1937, Tucson’s African-American lodge – Pilgrim Rest Elks Lodge 601 -– returned the space to a gathering place and called the building home until the late 80s.

It was also during the Elks’ days that the original theatre was put back into use as a performance venue for Borderlands Theater.

Founder and Producing Director Barclay Goldsmith said Borderlands staged at Teatro Carmen for three seasons - from 1987 to 1989 – and chose the location “in terms of our audience demographic. It was downtown and in a historic space that our audience knew.”

Goldsmith said the company “painted it, brought it up to electrical code and did some plumbing.”

The company also painted the beige arch to the outer doorway - which is accented with green, yellow and purple swirls and has Teatro Carmen painted at the top in maroon block lettering.

For the last 15 years, the property has lain dormant. It is currently owned by Bacon Industries – which acquired it in 1996.

Restoration of the theatre is on hold while the company is in litigation with the City of Tucson over a leaking water main that the property owners said caused damage to Teatro Carmen, as well as other close-by adobes the company owns.

“We are not trying to do any work on the building when it’s been damaged by city water main leaks until there is a settlement to the lawsuit,” said Kelley Rollings.

They have, however, maintained structural stability over the last nine years.

He said their future plans are to have Teatro Carmen returned to a theatre, with a new stage, that would encompass and be geared toward its original function as a Hispanic cultural center – a place where Spanish language plays and movies would be presented along with other events like quiñceneras.

Don Rollings said they have been “approached by folkloric ballet and flamenco groups – we feel there is a need for this space – this one was (historically) specifically for Spanish language performances.”

Other plans include restructuring the south end of the building into a variety of uses – including a small gallery, shops, a restaurant and an outdoor seating area.

---

---

BACK