Teatro Municipal Baltazar Dias

Funchal's Italian-style theatre, on Avenida Arriaga. After the demolition of the Teatro Grande in 1833, Madeirans demanded a new theatre for much of the 19th century; it was opened on 11 March 1888 on the model of Lisbon's São Carlos and Milan's La Scala. Named in turn D. Maria Pia, Dr. Manuel de Arriaga and Teatro Funchalense, in 1935 it took the name of Baltazar Dias, a blind playwright and poet born in Madeira in the 16th century. Decoration and scenery by the Italian Luigi Manini and the Portuguese Eugénio do Nascimento Cotrim. A reference programme on the Portuguese scene; check the bill.